


Kismet

by JoeyTaylor



Series: Ennead [6]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! - All Media Types, Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Amane - Freeform, Blood, Egypt, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fem!Ryou, Fem!Yami, Fighting, Friendship, Gen, Genderbend, History, Hospital, Hurt/Comfort, Lore Drop, Mahad's side of the story, Meeting, Meisa, destiny arc, fem!Bakura, fem!Yugi, namu - Freeform, pegasus's kids, post fire, tomb keepers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-01
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-18 16:55:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 31,580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29121546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JoeyTaylor/pseuds/JoeyTaylor
Summary: After a close call in a raging inferno, Yugi is left with more questions than answers.  One thing is certain: as she is, she cannot win the oncoming fight and with the future of the world at stake, she needs to know more. Thankfully, looking to the future can sometimes give you answers to the past...
Series: Ennead [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/819942
Comments: 13
Kudos: 21





	1. Start of Something New

After over a week in hospital, Jonouchi Katsuya welcomed the sight of the Kame Game Shop.

He paid the driver and slipped out of the taxi, shouldering the duffle bag with the things that Jii-san had brought to the hospital for him as he headed into the shop, noting the sign on the door for the Dungeon Dice Monsters release this weekend.

The store was surprisingly busy as he slipped inside, with many customers lining up at the counter to sign up for the release packs, but Jii-san still stopped to smile and nod to him, gesturing him over to the counter.

The blond-haired, brown-eyed Warrior and Dragon Duelist did not hesitate, narrowly avoiding a young man who was assisting a customer in reaching something off one of the higher shelves. Making a note of the new hire, who was possibly around his age or a little bit older, with long, ash blonde hair and purple eyes, and whose skin tone reminded him of Shadi, he headed for the man who had taken him in.

"Welcome home, Katsuya." Mutou Sugoroku, whose spiky grey hair was being tamed by a black bandana, and grey beard and moustache were neatly trimmed, smiled broadly and patted him on the shoulder. Expressive purple eyes crinkled as he said, "Sorry I couldn't come and get you myself."

"It's cool. I get it." And Katsuya did. The shop needed to be kept open if they wanted to pay the bills, plus Jii-san had visited almost daily and had given him the money to pay the taxi driver in case he was released while the store was open, so it was not like he minded. "Want me to dump my bag and help out?"

"No, no. You rest up." The former archaeologist shook his head, causing a rattling in the chain of the Millennium Puzzle currently hanging around his neck. If anyone had looked closely, they might have seen a brief glow from the eye on the Puzzle, as if it agreed that the young man should conserve his strength. But then again, it was probably just a trick of the light. "I need you fit for this weekend."

"You sure?"

"Excuse me? Can I get some service? Or is your chatter more important?" the next customer in the queue demanded angrily, cutting off Doctor Mutou's reply.

Katsuya had to bite back his response as the elderly Game Master turned and served them with the sort of politeness that the teen was aware was 'customer service polite'. The sort of polite that those who served the public demonstrated when they had to maintain someone's custom despite the customer being rude.

"Have a good day." The Duelist could not help but be amused by the way Doctor Mutou's tone turned the casual farewell into something vaguely insulting before turning back to him. "Yes, I'm sure. We're going to be busy, and even with Namu and Otogi's help, I'm going to need you."

"You're letting Otogi work here?" The elder pursed his lips at Jonouchi's snap. "Seriously?"

"We'll discuss this later." Sugoroku's tone was just as sharp, suggesting that he really did not want to discuss this in front of customers. "Please go upstairs."

Jou hesitated for a moment, then nodded, anticipating getting information later. As he headed for the apartment, he nodded a hello to the new guy, who he was guessing was Namu. Climbing the flight of stairs was more exhausting than he had anticipated, and he slumped down on the sofa, dropping his bag on the floor as he caught his breath.

He hoped Jii-san knew what he was doing by allowing Otogi to work with them. The other teen had been partly responsible for his and Yugi's hospitalization, Meisa being trapped in the Shadows for days and Amane and Bakura being held prisoner. Yes, he had been following his father's orders, and yes, Yugi had been able to help Amane and Bakura thanks to him, but that did not entirely excuse his actions in Jou's eyes.

His thoughts were disturbed by a chirping mew as Yugi's huge, fluffy cat bounded across the room, leapt up onto the sofa, and rubbed against him, purring up a storm. He chuckled and ran a hand through her long, ridiculously soft silver-striped fur. "Hey, Ginka, miss me?"

The feline slumped down in his lap, suggesting that, yes, she had missed him. His mood perked up as he scratched behind the kitty's ears and the cat melted happily over him. He closed his eyes briefly, just enjoying the company of the floofy cat, and the next thing he knew there was someone moving around in the kitchen and the clock had gone forward nearly an hour.

He blinked and slid the sleeping feline off of his lap, trying not to giggle as she kind of flowed off of him into a ball of fur before he headed for the kitchen. Inside was the new staff member, who was pulling a small container out of the fridge. Probably his dinner.

"Hey." The young man paused to consider Katsuya, then bowed. "You're Jonouchi Katsuya, right? I'm Namu Majhul. It's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too." Jou gave him a shallow bow in return and watched his response. Considering the lack of bristling at the disrespect, the Duelist suspected the teen in front of him was not a local. "You been in town long?"

"Not really." Namu shook his head as he took the lid off of the salad he had brought with him. "Ukhti had work in the area, and me and Akh followed. I transferred into a local school and needed to pay for my education. I was lucky enough to be hired here. Did I wake you?"

"Eh?" Jou shrugged, a little wary of the newcomer considering recent events. "I shouldn't be napping on the sofa anyway, even if it nets me a nap buddy."

The nap buddy in question came following her pillow into the kitchen, grumpily mewing at the resident pettings provider. Namu knelt down and held out a prawn from his salad to the feline, who stalked straight over and sniffed it.

Katsuya had no idea what the new recruit said to the cat, since it was not in either of the languages he recognized, but the tone it was said in was soft and caring. The prawn earned Namu the chance to pet the cat on the head as she devoured his gift, which caused the young man to smile broadly as he got to his feet. "I swear she only likes me for my fish. I have to make an offering every shift or she won't talk to me."

Jou chuckled, able to relax a little around the young man if he was willing to treat the household pet with respect and care. "She's particular about people. Her favorite human isn't here right now, so she's deigning to mingle with us mortals."

"Her favorite human? Is that Mutou Yugi-san?" Namu's tone was curious, but there was an attentiveness to his expression that put Jou on edge.

"You know about Yugi?" Katsuya's expression was guarded as he asked. After all, he was still understandably bitter about Otogi's stunt.

"How could I not? Mutou-Sensei talks about you both at length." Namu's chuckle as he turned back to his salad took some of the edge off of his wariness. "I'm glad you're home. He's been worried."

The fact the kid cared about that took Jou's alert down another notch. "Yeah, Ginka's supposedly a household pet, but if given the choice between the three of us, she'd pick Yuge every time."

"I've never had a pet." The new staff member nodded in response to Jou's words, absentmindedly taking a fork from the drainer to eat his food with. "But cats are special, so I try and treat Ginka with the respect she deserves."

"She'll have every last prawn out of that salad if you're not careful," Katsuya warned as he scooped the feline up, preventing her from leaping up onto the counter to swipe the rest of the fish.

"Thanks for the heads up." The transfer student ruefully smiled, suggesting he had lost that fight once already. "Umm… I don't suppose you know anyone who can show me around Domino? I'm still kind of new here, and it would be good to get to know the city."

Katsuya paused to think. Anzu was a good bet if they wanted to get to know the other teen a bit better and work out if they really could trust him around the Mutous, but he did not want to leave her alone with him. Normally he would go with them if he wanted to protect the girls, but he was still recovering from the smoke inhalation from the fire at the Black Clown, as was Honda. He did not particularly want to introduce the new colleague to Amane either, since the Thief Queen was dangerous at the best of times and completely untrustworthy at her worst.

Not to mention that the emergence of the demon and its attack on Yugi made the Ring Bearer a hazard, one he was not particularly inclined to introduce to the new guy on the block. Not that he blamed Amane for the actions of her other self, or the creature the spirit was bound to, but they could not be certain when either would lash out again.

"If you give me a few days to get back on my feet, I can show you around?" he offered, not wanting to throw Anzu under the bus if Namu WAS going to be a problem and not really seeing any other options. "Domino's huge, I can see why you get lost."

"Thanks." The grateful grin on the foreign student's face seemed honest. "Now if you don't mind?"

When Namu shook his salad container at Katsuya, the Duelist nodded and retreated back to the sofa with the furry, now unamused feline in his arms. He scooped up his bag and headed for his room, the cat escaping from his grip and heading back into the kitchen as he went.

A nap would do him some good, and then he could talk to Jii-san later about Otogi's employment at the shop. He was sure that the old man had a good reason for what seemed like a really dumb move, but he just wanted to know what it was.

The last thing he heard before he shut his bedroom door was Namu yelping at Ginka for stealing more of his fish.

* * *

"You need to get your head in gear, Mazaki. The recital is next week, and you're losing focus. If you can't pull yourself together, I'll be forced to trade you for the reserve," Mazaki Anzu's dance teacher told the brunette dancer, whose blue eyes were turned towards the floor.

"I'm sorry, Suzuki-sensei." Anzu winced at the threat, knowing that it would look bad on her school record and would impede her dreams of getting into one of the dance academies in the United States of America. "I'll focus harder."

The teacher sighed and ran a hand through her hair, frustrated with her best pupil. "I know you're worried about your friends in the hospital, but you can't let it distract you. Once you're on the stage, the only thing that can matter is the stage, or you'll injure yourself and others."

"Yes, Suzuki-sensei." Anzu flinched again, fully aware of how narrowly she had avoided a collision and an injury earlier. "I promise I'll do better."

"I hope so, Mazaki," her teacher huffed, disappointed more than angry. "I expect you to be back on form next lesson, understand?"

When Anzu nodded, the older woman huffed again and stalked off. The dancer sighed as she sat down to trade her ballet shoes for street wear. Suzuki had not been incorrect in her assumption that the girl's distraction related to her friends. Anzu had not yet forgiven herself for not stopping events from unfolding when she had been given a chance.

She had not pushed when Yugi had been obviously holding back information, and she had been so distracted by the fact that she was going to be late to dance class that she had not registered Yugi's disappearance beyond a thought that her friend had probably dashed home to help at the shop, despite knowing that her friend was in trouble with Otogi and that she had been attacked the day before.

Normally she would have put her phone on silent during dance class, but she had forgotten, having been running late, and the sound of it ringing had gotten her in trouble. Not that she had cared. Seeing Honda on the caller ID had shocked her into answering. Hearing that Yugi and Katsuya were being rushed to Domino General Hospital had been enough to make her dash out of class with barely an explanation to her teacher and without changing her shoes, panic coursing through her.

She should have been there. She did not know what she could have done to help, but she should have been there.

She had been trying to be better since. She had been helping Mutou Sugoroku by making sure there were meals available for when he finished work, where normally Yugi would have cooked for him. She had been running errands for the shop. She had even gotten her mother involved in making the police back off from Katsuya and the others to protect them from the fallout of the fire.

It was the least she could do to start making up for all the times she had failed her friends.

Yes, she had been at Yugi's side on Duelist Kingdom, but she had not been there for Yugi when Otogi had been harassing her. She had failed to assist Yugi when bullies had assaulted her. And her attempts to protect Yugi from all the bullying incidents in years previous were a joke.

She had always considered herself Yugi's friend. After all, she had been the only one willing to spend time with the tiny girl. She was not like the other students, who bullied and attacked the Duelist to make themselves feel tall. She was a nice person.

However, looking back, she now understood that she had not really been a friend.

Back before the Puzzle, before Meisa, Anzu had occasionally stood aside when other students had made snide comments or used a temporary friendship with Yugi to get reduced rates at the game shop, only stepping in when things got physical or something could be broken. She had been more interested in her other, more normal friends. Even now she occasionally found Yugi's obsession with gaming frustrating and wished the Puzzle Bearer was more like her old group of female friends. That she would just put down the games and magic and act like a proper girl.

Which was why, she supposed, she had been replaced as Yugi's best friend.

Not that Yugi would ever see it as such. To her Anzu, Jonouchi, Honda, and Bakura were equal despite the Spirit of the Ring wanting the Puzzle Bearer dead. But Anzu could see the writing on the wall.

Jonouchi's complete acceptance of the weirdness that was Yugi's life and his moving into the Kame Game Shop after his former gang had hospitalized Yugi had allowed him to move into Anzu's space as Yugi's best friend. Especially when he had been the one to help Yugi work out what was going on with the Spirit of the Puzzle and treated the Pharaoh like she was just another person. Plus he was almost as addicted to games as Yugi was, giving the girl someone who was willing to play with her constantly and who did not expect her to be just another girl in a crowd.

Honda, despite being weirded out by all the magical stuff, was protective of the girls and was willing to hang out with the group, no matter what they were up to. While he was often working at his Otosan's warehouse or babysitting his nephew, rather than being around constantly, his acceptance of Meisa and Ba-Khu-Ra had made him more a part of the group than Anzu was. Plus he had somehow managed to make friends with the Thief Queen and was one of the only people who could talk her down.

Even Bakura was doing a better job of being a good friend to Yugi. She often stood between her other self and Yugi, and the pair of Item Holders held weekly game nights, which were occasionally attended by Yugi's other friends. These game nights often ended early because the spirits of the Puzzle and the Ring got angry with each other, but they were always fun for the Queen of Games.

Between the three of them, Anzu was beginning to understand that she was not the friend to Yugi that she should be, and that needed to change because if she carried on the way she was going, she was always going to be an outsider to the group.

And she did not want to be.

She was trying to fix it, but she understood it was going to take time. Helping was a good start, but she knew that without finding something both she and Yugi enjoyed, she was still going to be on the outside.

She could not currently apologize to a girl who was being kept unconscious by the doctors, but she had found the game of Duel Monsters interesting when Yugi had been teaching Jonouchi how to play. Somehow Yugi was still absolutely fascinated with the game, despite everything that happened at Duelist Kingdom, so it was a good way of getting back in the door with her friend and opening up a chance to apologize for being a bad friend in the past.

Not that she could play at the level Yugi could, and while she had been able to beat Jonouchi regularly before Yugi had powered up his deck and taught him all the little tricks and tips that she used, she was no longer a worthy match for him. She would have asked for his or Doctor Mutou's help improving, but both of them were unavailable. Ojiisan was busy with the shop and running back and forth to the hospital, while Jonouchi had only just come out of the hospital and would need as much rest as possible.

Then it occurred to her. There was a friend of Yugi's who had asked Anzu to keep her up to date with how things were in Domino. One who travelled the world and who knew the game of Duel Monsters at a competitive level.

One whose mobile number she had.

As she rang the number in question, nerves hit. The worst thing Mai could say was no, she reminded herself. Well, technically the worst was that she laughed in her face, but still…

"Moshi moshi?" The voice on the other end sounded sleepy.

"Mai? Hi, it's Anzu. How're you doing?" The dancer tried not to sound as nervous as she felt.

"Anzu? It's like 5am here," the professional Duelist complained. "Can you ring back at a more sane time?"

"What time zone are you in?" The dancer winced at the bad start with the Harpie Duelist.

"Uhh… I'm in New York right now if it helps? I think that's Eastern Standard." Anzu heard the sounds of sheets moving and the sound of a glass clinking and then, "You sound worried, what's happened?"

The brunette bit her lower lip for a moment, certain that even with an ocean and a phone between them, Mai could still read her like a book. "Yugi's in hospital. Thought you'd want to know."

That caught the older blonde's attention. "How? Why?"

As Anzu explained about the whole Black Clown game shop incident and the fire that had hospitalized both Yugi and Katsuya, leaving off the demon mess since she could not remember if Mai was aware of the ongoing war between Meisa and Ba-Khu-Ra or not, she could hear the young woman on the other end getting out of bed and the sounds of a keyboard being tapped.

"But they'll be okay, right?" Concern came over clearly as the typing stopped.

"They should be, but…"

"I have business that's keeping me in New York till next Wednesday, but I can fly over after that," the twenty-four year old informed the teen, her tone very matter of fact.

"I can probably put you up for a couple of days, unless you want to pay for a hotel?" the dancer offered.

"It would be appreciated," the duelist replied with a hint of relief in her voice. "If I stay longer, I'll get a hotel, but I can pay you for food and stuff."

"Actually, I was wondering if you'd do me a favor while you're here." Anzu's voice wavered in her nervousness. "If you don't mind."

"Oh?" Mai's tone was guarded, as if she expected Anzu to ask a lot from her.

"I want to learn how to play competitive Duel Monsters." The surprised noise on the other end of the line amused Anzu. "I was hoping you could show me how."

There was a pause as Mai considered, then, "You realize it's going to be some work, and we might need to change up your deck?"

"I'm willing to put the work in," Anzu promised, "and some money."

"Okay then. I'll hang around for a bit so I can work with you, but I'm warning you, if you don't take this seriously, I'll move on once Yugi's back on her feet." Mai said, the sound of a chair creaking suggesting she was leaning back in one. "I might want more female Duelists in the competitive scene, but I also have competitions to attend."

"I understand." Anzu let out a relieved breath.

"I'll give you details when I have them," Mai promised. "See you soon."

With that the call cut out and Anzu got to her feet.

If she was going to make some major changes to her deck, she needed to buy considerably more cards, and that meant one thing.

Time to visit some card shops.

* * *

"Oh bother," Bakura Amane huffed as she examined the ends of the strands of long white hair that had escaped the ponytail, decided that they wanted to be cobalt blue, and fallen onto the paint pallet she was using. Her brown eyes narrowed as she rose from the table, keeping a hold of the strands so they could not contaminate the rest of her hair.

_'It might look good that colour. Have you considered dying it?'_ The Ring Bearer barely dignified that with a huff as she washed the hair in the kitchen sink, grimacing as she realised her hair was already stained a pale blue.

The Spirit of the Millennium Ring emerged from her item and leaned on the counter, an amused grin on her face. _'Oh come on, Sen, blue would stand out just as much as white.'_

_'Yes,'_ Amane allowed, smiling slightly as the Thief Queen used the Egyptian word for sister, _'but school insists on us having natural hair colours. I get in enough trouble for having white hair, without encouraging it. Please stop being a bad influence, sister.'_

_'But I'm good at being a bad influence. It's kind of my thing.'_ Amane could not help the smile the Ring Spirit's complaint caused.

The friendly banter had been coming more and more easily since the pair of them had escaped the fire and come to understand that they needed to work together if they wanted any of their goals to become reality. It also helped that they were now aware that the demon that their soul had been sold to in Egypt would prefer to see its own goals completed before Ba-Khu-Ra could get her people free from the Shadows and safely into the afterlife, and those goals would end the world, giving Spirit and Bearer a common enemy.

Amane was growing to like the Spirit of her item and did not want the world to end. Ba-Khu-Ra did not care if the world ended but did care if the people of Kul Elna were prevented from their rightful afterlives for the rest of forever. If Zorc had his way, neither of them would get what they wanted.

The doorbell ringing disturbed them, making the pair pause their conversation. Then the spectral Bakura floated towards the front door.

_'It's Honda. Want me to scare him off?'_ Ba-Khu-Ra offered.

_'No, no. He's a friend, and we kind of owe him for pulling us out of the fire.'_ Amane headed over to the front door and opened it to find her friend on the other side.

"Hi, Honda." Amane smiled at the tall teen, noting his normally pointy brown hair was a little messy and his brown eyes showed concern as he held out a rather large, wrapped gift.

"Hi, Bakura. Can I come in?" At his question she took the present and stepped aside, allowing her friend access to her house. "How're you feeling?"

"Eh?" Amane shrugged as he entered and she shut the door behind him. Honda had been asking on a nearly daily basis since he had pulled her out of the fire, but she appreciated his not asking 'are you okay?'. She certainly was not okay, but that had been the case for a long time, so it was something she was used to. His asking how she was feeling allowed her to be more honest, which, considering he had saved her life, she welcomed. "Not doing too bad today."

"That's good." His smile made her relax a little as they headed for the dinning room. "Think you'll be back at school soon?"

"I…" Amane hesitated and gestured for him to take a seat as she moved her paint pallet aside to make room for the gift and sat down herself. She had been using the 'sick' excuse to skip school for the last few days as she got herself a little more stable, but she knew she could not avoid it much longer. "Depends… how mad's Mazaki?"

"Not that mad." The former thug shrugged, taking a seat and leaning back in it. "Kind of appreciated the truth about things. That, and reassured that you managed to seize control and protect us. That's what the gift is for."

Amane tilted her head, confusion clear. "I thought you guys wouldn't want me around anymore."

"Don't get me wrong, we're gunna be on high alert when you're wearing the Ring," Honda snorted, being completely honest with her, "but Yugi once told us, if we blame you for Ba-Khu-Ra's actions, we'd have to blame Yugi for Meisa setting someone on fire, so we can't exactly blame you for Zorc's actions either."

The Ring Bearer chuckled, having heard that story and fully aware that the Spirit of the Puzzle was never going to live it down, as she turned to the gift. She unwrapped it carefully, revealing a Monster World game piece she had been desiring forever. The 'Dawnstar Dragon' was a legendary piece that she had been saving for and her other self had been considering acquiring for her. It was also worth a decent amount of money, hence the Thief Queen’s interest in the piece.

"Thank you," Amane breathed, lifting the lid of the box and beholding the parts within. Parts she would need to paint and assemble to make the huge monster.

Honda just watched for a while as his friend took the parts out with an almost religious reverence and examined the instructions carefully, before getting up and selecting the colours she wanted to use on it.

"Can I ask you a question?" Honda wondered out loud as she considered her shelving unit of paints in so many different shades that he had no idea how she kept track of it all.

"Hmm?" Amane replied, distracted.

"You have magic, like Yugi, right?" he questioned. "So why didn't you use it against the Otogis and get away?"

"My magic is exactly like Yugi's," the Ring Bearer answered, pursing her lips as she picked out the shades she wanted. "I'm a half soul, same as her. The light half of the Thief Queen to be precise. Just like Yugi, I can't handle Shadows too well, and I need my Item and the other half of my soul to be able to use magic. When they stole the Ring from me, I lost my ability to fling fireballs."

"You can do that?" Honda squeaked. "Can Yugi do that?"

She grimaced and glanced over her shoulder. "Eh? I mean, with the right training, yes, but the Shadows work through any games nowadays, and I'm not really a Duelist like Yugi. She tends to focus her magic through her cards, so I suppose she might be able to throw fire if she used something like Hinotama, but I prefer tabletop games, like Monster World and Dungeons and Dragons, so I tend to rely on more DnD based spells, like the Wall of Force I was using to help stop Crawford's mind reading. I'm starting to learn the Duel Monsters variant of the magic because it's easier than reshaping the power every time I want to do something, but even if I do, I won't be able to use it without the Ring to hand."

_'Might I take over, Sen?'_ Amane paused at her sister's question.

_'Promise you're not going to hurt him?'_ The Ring Bearer asked the spirit attached to her item.

_'It entirely depends on the answer to the question I have for him.'_ That was kind of fair, the item holder allowed, stepping aside.

"Why do you care?" Ba-Khu-Ra's darker tone and narrowed eyes made the former thug mentally flinch, aware that he was not necessarily safe if he screwed up the answer to her question. She liked him, but he was fully aware that that would not save him if she did not like what he said.

"Just because I owe you for the save at Duelist Kingdom, that doesn't mean I don't consider you two friends." The brunette's response stalled Ba-Khu-Ra's irritation. "Even if I hadn't made that bargain with you, I'd be concerned for your safety and want to know when I need to be covering your back the most."

The Thief Queen paused to consider his words, leaning against the paint shelves.

Did she consider him a friend?

He had been the first one to listen to her besides the Runt and the Pharaoh. He had been the first one to try and back her up. He had treated her injuries at Duelist Kingdom and been more than willing to work with her. He had been the one who had called in the Runt and her knight when she had been captured, and he had been the one who had carried her and her sister out of the flames.

She wanted to trust him, but she had been betrayed so badly before that she was not sure she could.

"You don't have to completely trust me. I'm not going to just stand by and let you kill the others after all, but if you need my support for most other things? You've got it," Honda promised, as if he could tell what she was thinking, "because you and Amane are my friends, and I don't let go of friends easily."

"Thank you." She was honest in her gratitude, kind of pleased that she could consider him an ally.

"You're welcome." He smiled back for a moment, before pausing and asking, "Did you have to let Zorc try and kill Yugi while you were stuck in that fire though?"

"I saw an opportunity, and in a moment of frustration and anger, I let him take it," Bakura admitted with a huff, turning back towards the paint shelf so she did not have to look at him as she talked about trying to murder one of his friends.

"I thought you needed Yugi?" Honda asked quietly.

"I do, at least until I have the brat's true name. I don't plan on being so weak again." She shrugged, trying to ignore the churning in her stomach at how badly Zorc would have screwed up everything if her sister had not intervened. "Don't get me wrong, once I have it and have used it for what I need it for, I'm going to kill her slowly and painfully, but she was injured and mostly defenseless, and I couldn't…"

She trailed off, the memory of her hands wrapping tightly around Yugi's neck of their own accord and the girl's pulse fading away under her grip flickering through her mind. Her hands clenched into fists for a moment and then released as she tried to ignore how satisfying she had found strangling the brat.

"If there happens to be an opportunity like that again, I would appreciate it if you would remind me that I require her alive and, if you have to, step in my way," she requested, swallowing hard, not wanting Honda hurt, but knowing she needed help if she was going to succeed in her plans. "Of course, this isn't the one favor you owe me, so you have the choice not to, but…"

Honda considered her request carefully. There was more to it than there appeared, he was sure of it.

Then it hit him.

Ba-Khu-Ra was not necessarily as in control of herself as she pretended. Letting Zorc attack Yugi had been an act of pain and fury, rather than a conscious decision.

The Thief Queen was not asking for his help for the Puzzle Bearer's sake, though she probably assumed he would accept because of his friendship with the girl in question. She was asking because everything she had fought for, everything she had died for, everything she had been through over the last three thousand years would mean nothing if she screwed up because she could not stop the events of the fire from happening again.

He was pretty sure he had worked out at Duelist Kingdom that the Thief Queen was seeking revenge because the palace had destroyed her home and family during their creation of the Millennium Items. Not that he had dared ask her if he was right yet. If she lost control of herself and killed Yugi before she had access to the Pharaoh's ancient true name, she would fail her family.

And he did not think that she could bear that thought.

Honda moved over to her side and put his hands on her shoulders, becoming both surprised and pleased when the Spirit of the Ring did not flinch away. "Don't worry. I'll keep an eye out."

"Thank you."

* * *

The shop was absolutely heaving on release day for Dungeon Dice Monsters, and Sugoroku was pretty certain that they had taken in almost as much this morning alone as they did the day before Christmas. In fact, he had not stopped since the doors had opened. He was just grateful that Katsuya had brought him down some sandwiches when it had become obvious that he could not stop for lunch. Otherwise, he would not have gotten a chance to eat.

The phone ringing made him groan and gesture to Jonouchi to answer the phone, not entirely trusting Namu, whose Japanese was not perfect, or Otogi, who was only allowed to work in the shop because Sugoroku felt party responsible for the boy's downfall and wanted to ensure the teen had a future.

The blonde darted away from the handout station, where he had been checking receipts and giving out the purchased goods, to answer the phone, expecting it to be yet another customer asking if they had such and such left in stock, only for…

"Kame Game Shop, how can I help you?"

"Oh, hello, this is Higawa from Domino General Hospital. Is Mutou Sugoroku there?"

"Give me a minute." He left the phone off of the hook and darted over to the counter. "Jii-san, it's the hospital."

The elderly gamer shot towards the phone, hoping it was good news. "Mutou Sugoroku speaking."

"Hello, Mutou-san. We'll be waking your magomasume up in an hour. It's on her file that you wanted to be made aware."

"Yes, thank you." Doctor Mutou grimaced slightly, trying to think as the nurse put down the phone.

He wanted to be there when Yugi woke up, both because his granddaughter had been kept under for nearly two weeks and he wanted to be there to reassure her when she re-joined the world of the living, and because he wanted to return her Millennium Puzzle to her. He had been unable to leave it with her while she had been unconscious, and he could imagine that Meisa, the spirit of a long dead Pharaoh who lived within the Puzzle, was looking forward to reconnecting with her twin sister.

However, with the shop heaving as badly as it was, leaving now would cause issues.

Still…

He headed back to the counter. "Katsuya, I need you to hold down the counter. I need to be at the hospital."

"Is Yuge okay?" the Duelist asked, worriedly running a hand through his hair.

"Yeah, they're waking Yugi up, and…"

"No, no, I get it." The teen cut him off. "I promise I'll keep things running smoothly. Say hi and give her a hug from me?"

"Thank you." His relief was palpable as he called a taxi and headed out as fast as possible, pausing only to grab up the bag of supplies for his granddaughter. He had packed it over a week ago with clothes, hairbrush, toothbrush, shower supplies, a ton of AA batteries, Yugi's yellow Gameboy Color, and the 'Pocket Monsters: Pikachu Edition' that she had not actually had a chance to play before the Black Clown incident. He hoped that the brand-new game would keep her from getting too bored while she was bedridden, especially since her Red version had been accidently broken by Anzu before Yugi had gotten past the water gym.

The taxi got caught in traffic, much to his frustration, and by the time he finally made it to the hospital and got to Yugi's room, the girl was already awake, wide purple eyes gazing around the room blearily, long black hair with its red tips messy and unkempt from a fortnight of not being brushed, blonde fringe hanging wildly.

The oxygen mask over her face could not entirely hide the smile as she saw him enter, not that the mask stayed on as she lowered it to call to him happily despite how tired she felt. "Jii-san!"

He tried not to wince at how quiet and hoarse her voice sounded, remembering that the Doctor had told him a week ago that it could take up to a month for her throat to fully recover from the trauma done to it. Instead he came straight over, dropping the bag at the end of the bed, and hugged her tightly. "It's good to see you awake. I've been worried."

"Sorry." He pulled back a little at the apology, confused, only to find Yugi was looking at the floor.

"It's not your fault. It's mine. You only had to go through that because of me." He shook his head and sat on the bed next to her, slipping the chain of the Puzzle over his head.

"You couldn't have known what Otogi was going to do." Yugi shook her head as she took it from him in shaky hands and briefly slipped the mask off entirely so she could put the item on.

The moment the Puzzle was in its proper place, she felt the soul bond to Meisa reignite. She let out a relieved sigh as she felt her dark half reconnect with her, once again completing her soul and making the world feel 'right' and 'safe'.

Then she started coughing, the long breath aggravating her semi-recovered throat and lungs. The Spirit of the Puzzle emerged from her Item and put her hands on her twin's shoulders, trying to offer support. Her grandfather rushed over, pouring a cup of water and getting her to take a few sips before helping Yugi put the oxygen mask back on.

The pure oxygen helped Yugi catch her breath, and the teen leaned back into her pillows as she relaxed a little.

_'Easy, Futago no Imoto.'_ Meisa, her twin sister and the darker half of their soul, breathed, worry plain on her features as she took a seat on her younger sister's left side, while their grandfather took a seat on the only chair in the room. _'You've been asleep for almost two weeks, and you're still healing.'_

_'Two weeks?!'_ Yugi mentally squeaked, eyes widening, ignoring that the Pharaoh had essentially full-named her by using the 'futago no' which designated her the spirit's twin sister.

"I'm guessing Meisa just told you how long it's been?" Sugoroku asked, watching Yugi's reactions carefully. When his granddaughter nodded, he sighed. "Do you remember what happened?"

Yugi paused and tried to think. Images flickered through her mind, but nothing coherently came together. She thought she remembered Otogi, dice, Ba-Khu-Ra, and fire, but the first substantial thing that came to mind was the Duel Club session where they had come up with the name for the group and gotten all the paperwork signed.

The session after the Puzzle had been shattered.

Her head snapped towards the Spirit of the Puzzle. _'Anesan? You're okay?'_

_'You don't remember anything of the fire, do you?'_ Meisa bit her lip, worried for her twin. When Yugi shook her head the spirit looked towards their grandfather.

The old man swallowed hard. "Otogi Ryuji stole a piece of your Millennium Puzzle, and his Otosan kidnapped Bakura. You decided you were going to go and get them both back on your own, and you managed to complete the Puzzle and reunite Bakura with her Millennium Ring, but you got badly hurt, and if it hadn't been for Katsuya and Honda…"

Suddenly it came rushing back. Ryuji's threats. Getting the Ring back to Amane and jamming the door so she and Ba-Khu-Ra could escape. The unfinished game with Ryuji for her Puzzle. His father's interruption and assault on her. Bakura's outburst when she had started a Shadow Game against the old man. Completing the Puzzle. The fire starting...

Zorc.

Her hand went to her throat as she remembered being pinned against the wall by the creature whom they had given up everything to seal, back in Egypt.

"How badly…" She trailed off, noting that her voice was shaking and slightly muffled by the mask, but her grandfather understood what she was about to ask.

"You took some head injuries that caused some swelling on the brain. Between that and the emergency repairs that they had to do to your throat, the doctors decided that it would be best to keep you under until you had recovered enough for movement to be less of a problem." His own voice shook a little as he moved across to take her hand, having been ever so scared over the last two weeks that his granddaughter would never be able to be woken up.

_'I'm sorry, Imoto… I couldn't be there when you needed me.'_

_'It wasn't your fault, Futago no Ane. The Puzzle was in pieces. If anything, it's mine for letting those bullies get the jump on me.'_ Yugi looked down again, her hands crumpling the bedding as they clenched. "And I'm sorry to you, too, Jii-san. I should have called you, but Ryuji threatened to break the Puzzle piece and try to force Amane to give up the Ring if I didn't go alone. And he said he was going to use the Ring on you. I didn't… I couldn't… I had to go."

"Yes, you should have told someone, but I already knew about his threats. He admitted everything." Sugoroku spoke softly. "He also told me you stood up to him and threatened to call the cops?"

"On the day of the fire, I confronted him," Yugi said, voice shaking as she tried to ignore how much it hurt to talk, "because I'd worked out that he had been in the right place to take a Puzzle piece and had been trying to get us to go home without looking for Bakura. He even tried to keep us away from his shop. He tried to tell me I had to follow his orders, so I said I'd call the police on him."

Meisa tried to control the anger bubbling away under the surface, knowing that it would not help her Imoto tell the full story, while Sugoroku grimaced, not hiding his irritation and impressed she had managed to work it out. "And that's when he made his threats?"

"Yeah." The girl nodded. "I couldn't let h-ack!"

The Puzzle Bearer's face screwed up with pain, and her hand went to her throat as her words cut off with a distressed squeak and she started coughing again.

"Yugi!"

'Imoto!'

"I…" Once she had stopped coughing, Yugi tried to lie and claim she was fine, but her throat would not cooperate and her chest felt like it was in a vice. Trying to force any words out caused more pain, causing her to tremble.

"Yugi, stop." At Jii-san's snap Yugi bit her lip and looked at him, a little frightened. "The doctor told me this might happen and you weren't to strain your throat, or you could do permanent damage. I shouldn't have been questioning you."

He pulled her into a hug and felt her lean into him, shaking. "You were brave to go alone for the sake of others and you took a massive risk for all of us. You have nothing to apologize for. Except, perhaps, not letting anyone know what was going on. We could have supported you if you had trusted us."

Sugoroku turned his head and focused on what most would see as the empty space next to Yugi, where his other granddaughter was hugging her in the other half of a Yugi sandwich. "Meisa?" At the sound of the name Jii-san had given her, the Pharaoh turned to look back at him. "Now Yugi's awake, can you heal her the rest of the way?"

The Pharaoh paused to consider, then shook her head, hoping he would still be able to hear her as he had after Duelist Kingdom, when his soul had been ripped out and trapped in the Shadows, making him more sensitive, as she reached out with her magic. "It's not safe."

The former Archaeologist frowned slightly. "Why not?"

"If I heal Imoto here," Meisa said, unhappy with both the situation and with the fact she could clearly see the old man was struggling to hear her, "the doctors will notice she's healed too quickly and want to investigate. I don't want her to get in trouble. I'm going to have to wait until she's out of here."

"If you had a really weak life point recovery card, could you use it?" He looked thoughtful.

"In theory," the Pharaoh allowed, "but I'd need to apply it carefully."

Yugi pulled away from her grandfather but kept one arm around her twin. She opened her mouth, before closing it and squeezing his arm gently, giving him a smile and looking intently around the room. Recognizing what she was searching for and glad he had thought ahead, he pulled a notepad and pen out of the bag he had packed for her and handed it over. She scribbled down what she wanted to say and handed it back to Jii-san.

"Yes, I can hear her now. It seems some good came of my soul being stolen." His smile was shaky but honest. "And it's good of you to say you don't mind waiting, but I'll see what I can find."

He left the pad of paper and the pen on the bedside cabinet, gave her another hug, and handed her the Gameboy Color. "Katsuya asked me to pass on that hug. I'll bring him by later, so why don't you rest your voice and enjoy your game while I deal with some business at the shop?"

He was relieved when she nodded her agreement, not able to do much else. He needed to return to the shop and take some of the pressure off Katsuya. The Dungeon Dice Monsters release wasn't likely to have let up much since he left, and Namu-san was still new to the job. His CV included plenty of shop experience, yes, but selling games, especially just-released games, wasn't quite the same environment as what he had done at his most recent position. And, said a stray passing thought, was there really such a demand for gummy bears that a shop could succeed selling nothing but that?

"Jii-san?" Meisa hesitated, making him turn to look at her. "Thank you. For looking after me and not making me wait all alone."

"You knew I had the Puzzle?" He looked surprised.

"I can sense the life energy of whoever's touching the Puzzle," she admitted hesitantly. "Your energy feels like a warm hug and that sensation you get when you run your hand over paper, and that's almost all I've sensed for the last couple of weeks, so thank you."

"You're welcome, Meisa." He smiled at her. "I'd do it for you again, you know that, right?"

"I do." The grin she gave was bright and honest. "But I just wanted to say thank you."

He paused and then awkwardly attempted to hug the spirit, who could not feel his touch like she could Yugi's but appreciated the effort.

As he headed out, Yugi sighed and turned on the Gameboy, hesitating for a moment before looking up at her sister. _'Anesan?'_

_'What's wrong?'_ Meisa could sense the nervousness beneath the surface and leaned into her sister's side, trying to offer comfort.

_'I'm sorry.'_

_'Imoto, you,…'_

_'No, let me finish.'_ The younger twin shook her head. _'I'm sorry. I should never have suggested you stay back when those bullies were harassing me. I thought if I let them get their hits in, we could find out why our friends were hiding things from us and I could just heal up whatever injuries I got.'_

Meisa frowned, hating that her sister thought that was okay.

_'If I had known that they were going to push me down the stairs, if I had had the slightest clue that the Puzzle was going to break, I would never, ever have run that risk. I failed to protect the Puzzle and I failed to protect you. You didn't deserve to get shoved back into the Shadows. I'm sorry.'_

Meisa paused to think over her twin's words for a moment, watching the surfing Pikachu in the opening video of the game now playing as she considered.

_'Imoto, I'm not angry at you. Yes, the Puzzle smashed, and yes, those two days in the darkness, to borrow a phrase from Katsuya, sucked, but I was never mad at you. You couldn't have known what they were planning, and I was back with you when we took that fall. I failed to protect you when I didn't get the chance to start that Shadow Game, and I saw your memories of what happened while I gone. You got badly hurt by that tumble, and Otogi stole a piece of the Puzzle, and still you did everything you could to help me.'_

She put her hand on her sister's. _'You put yourself in danger to protect me and the others, and while you should never have had to, what you did was incredibly brave. You even helped me when Zorc made his move. I froze, Imoto. When he revealed himself, I **froze**. You were hurting and scared and you still didn't back down. Your strength helped me push past my own fear. If you hadn't helped me focus, we might be dead right now.'_

_'Anesan…'_

_'What I'm trying to say is thank you. For trying to protect the Puzzle when you fell, for trying to protect me from the darkness as best you could, and for helping me stand strong against the demon. I'm proud to call you sister.'_

She felt her twin settle down, the nervousness and guilt fading as Meisa leant her head on Yugi's shoulder, relieved to be back with her twin.

_'Now, shall we start the game? I believe we planned to name our trainer after Jii-san.'_

She just watched as Yugi pressed A to enter 'New Game', letting her twin lose herself in the game and just ignore the world around them as an older male character appeared on screen and started talking. "Hello there, welcome to the world of Pocket Monsters. My name is Ohikido! People call me the Pocket Monsters Prof…"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bottom picture is A Yugi Sandwich by Scaehime, who beta reads for this series, based on the hug that Yugi was getting from Grandpa and Meisa when she woke up in the hospital.
> 
> Purple is Yugi, red is Meisa and green is Jii-san.


	2. Warm Up

_‘Okay, so we know Kyo is a poison type Gym Leader.’_ Yugi frowned at the Gameboy Color in her hands as she discussed the matter with her spectral twin sister, who was sat next to her on the hospital bed. _‘So it stands to reason that all the Gym Trainers in Sekichiku will be using poison types too.’_

 _‘Most of the poison type Pocket Monsters we’ve run into so far have also been grass or bug types,’_ her sister, the spirit of the Millennium Puzzle, added as Yugi tucked one of her longer bangs behind her left ear, _‘so Katsu would be a good choice.’_

The living half of their soul paused to consider that. The winged, red western-style fire and flying type dragon, Lizardon, who had been named after their best friend, would wipe through bug and grass monsters without too much trouble. However, _‘He might need back up in case he faints mid-battle. Poison doesn’t like psychic, so Kitaro might not be a bad idea. He has Hypnosis and Dream Eater.”_

The ancient Pharaoh tilted her head as she thought about the mid-form ghost and poison type, Ghost, who had evolved from a ball of purple gas into a floating head with two clawed hands and a huge creepy grin and whom Meisa had named after her favorite anime character. _‘He’s probably a good backup, yes.’_

With that settled they headed into the Gym on their game, only to find their careful planning scuppered by a major issue.

 _‘I thought this was the poison gym!’_ Yugi pouted as she stared at yet another yellow and brown tapir-like Sleepe. _‘Not the psychic one!’_

 _‘It is.’_ The spirit grimaced. _‘Yamabuki has the psychic gym.’_

 _‘It’s also full of Rocket-dan right now, Anesan,’_ the younger, brighter soul responded, thinking hard. _‘We couldn’t get into most of the buildings, though, so I’m not sure what we’re supposed to do about that.’_

 _‘Something to check out when we’re done here?’_ the spirit suggested.

 _‘If we can get through this gym,’_ Yugi huffed, trying to think. _‘Psychic types are brutal. We don’t have anything good against them. Kitaro’s ghost typing is supposed to be super effective, but he’s part poison, so he…’_

With that the Ghost in question was hit by Psychic and fainted, causing the Puzzle Bearer to groan and flop back into the pillows.

 _‘Is weak against psychic moves,’_ the Pharaoh sighed, aware that her twin had not been in a great mood since this morning. _‘Still, we have plenty of other Pocket Monsters. Or is that not what’s bothering you? Is it your chest again?’_

Yugi straightened at the shaky concern in her Anesan’s mental voice and shook her head. Meisa had been hovering and worried ever since she had woken up and the bruising on her Imoto’s neck had gone down enough to allow the girl to wear the Puzzle again without risk of irritating the injuries below the surface.

She knew how much it frightened her twin when her chest suddenly felt incredibly tight and her throat seized up painfully, causing her to cough violently. She was always fine once she had taken in some oxygen from the mask by her bed and downed some painkillers, but her sister was still worried, having sensed just how much it hurt.

 _‘No, no. My chest is much better than it was,’_ the Puzzle Bearer reassured Meisa, putting the yellow console down to put her hand on her twin’s arm. There was no point in lying and saying she was fine, the Pharaoh could feel the pain from her smoke-damaged lungs and still-healing larynx, but she could offer that much at least. _‘I’m just frustrated. I want to get out of here.’_

Ah. Now the Pharaoh understood. There had been talk yesterday of Yugi being allowed to go home today. Talk that had been quashed this morning when the doctor had done a lung function test that had reminded the younger twin of a breathalyser, and determined that she was not yet safe to be away from an oxygen mask.

Yugi wished she dared use the powers the Puzzle gave her to summon monsters and activate spell and trap cards, because she had some potent healing spells in her deck that would allow her to walk out of the bland, oppressive hospital right now. However, she was fully aware that if she used her powers, the doctors would know something was off and look into it, which was why Meisa had insisted she wait until she got home.

That did not mean that she had to like it.

 _‘The others will be here after school,’_ Meisa offered, as ill at ease in the hospital as her twin was, having seen far too many other specters walking the halls. Specters of people who had died while being treated here. She just wanted to get her twin home as quickly as was safely possible. _‘And in the meantime, we can beat Kyo’s gym.’_

 _‘True…’_ Yugi scooped up the Gameboy and pursed her lips, thinking, _‘You know, I bet all these psychic Trainers are trying to beat the Gym Leader.’_

The Pharaoh paused at her suggestion. _‘I suppose, I mean we tried to bring something with psychic type moves, so it stands to reason that other Trainers would too.’_

As Chu, their little yellow electric mouse, took out the psychic type that had knocked out Kitaro, the Spirit of the Puzzle was distracted by their door opening slowly. She moved between the bed containing her precious light and the door, only to find that their grandfather, who very much should be running the shop right now, was slipping into the room.

 _‘Imoto,’_ she called as she stepped aside and retook her position on the bed.

At her other self’s call, Yugi’s head snapped up and she grinned brightly as she beheld the old man. His purple eyes were filled with happiness as he half-bowed to Meisa and looked over his granddaughter. “Hi, Jii-san. You’re early.”

“I closed a little early so I could come and see you. You look like you’re feeling a little better.” Mutou Sugoroku looked relieved as he took a seat next to the bed. Yugi saved her game and turned off the Gameboy, saving the batteries for later as she smiled ruefully.

“Getting there.” The Queen of Games shrugged, still irritated that she was stuck in for another night at least. “My face hurts less at least.”

The elderly Game Master nodded, considering the bruise on the right side of her face, which had gone down substantially since she had been admitted, as had the deep black-blue finger-shaped and chain-link-patterned bruising that had encircled her neck. He was glad of the visual proof that she was recovering well, and he could now see that her eye had not been damaged by the injury she had taken. Plus she was breathing a lot easier than when she had been admitted.

“Have the doctors been by yet?” he asked, stealing a look at the medical notes that were hung on the end of her bed and sighing when he saw the latest notes. “Oh.”

“Yeah.” Yugi shifted uncomfortably. “Sorry…”

“It’s not your fault.” Her grandfather waved it off, a little disappointed but not wanting to rush her out of the facility when she clearly still needed the expert help. “The results were better than three days ago. You’ll be home soon.”

The duelist sighed but nodded, having kind of hoped that Jii-san would help her escape.

“How’re you doing, Meisa?” The question made the Spirit of the Puzzle pause and then carefully reach out with her magic, entwining it around the old man so it would carry her words as it had before.

“I’m fine. I’m not the one who’s hurt,” she offered.

The retired archaeologist nodded, looking a little troubled. He was pretty sure that the Pharaoh was not as okay as she was pretending to be. She had been flung back into the tender mercies of the Shadows for a couple of days and then come back to find Yugi badly injured. Then there was the fire and the Puzzle in serious danger of being melted into golden slag. Not to mention Zorc. If their friends had not been there, who knew what could have happened.

However, he knew that the Pharaoh would not come clean with him about her fears and concerns. She was too determined to be strong for everyone else for that.

“I brought you both a gift,” Sugoroku told them, offering a card from his pocket.

Yugi took it and paused as she read it.

“Blue Medicine?” she asked, confused as to why he was giving her a card that restored 400 life points when most of the healing cards in her deck gave at least 1000, if not more.

“Remember our conversation the other day?” he explained, sitting back, “You can’t use the more potent healing cards on yourself without alerting the doctors? This is the lowest regenerating card out there that doesn’t involve summoning a monster. I figured that if you cast it on your water jug,” he said, gesturing to the jug in question, which was refilled daily by the nurses, “like you did the water bottle when you got jumped, you could spread it out over the day, and if it’s only healing 400 life points of injury per casting…”

“It would heal things slowly enough that the doctors wouldn’t look twice.” Yugi laughed, delighted, before her hand went to her throat and she let out a series of painful sounding dry coughs that made her twin rest her hands on her shoulders, supporting her.

“So I went through the spares until I found that one,” her grandfather continued like she had not started coughing her lungs up, something Yugi appreciated. “Sorry it took me so long.”

“It’s fine.” She smiled as she took her water jug in her hands, placed the Blue Medicine card on the top, and reached for the power contained in the Puzzle, Meisa assisting with pushing it into the water in the jug as she murmured, “I activate Blue Medicine.”

There was a moment where the water glowed blue. Then the light died down, leaving the liquid tinted just slightly bluer than normal. She poured herself a cup and then put the jug back on the table, planning to spread the spell-infused water out carefully.

The water stung on the way down, but almost from the instant it passed her lips, she felt the soreness of her throat fade a little, making it worth it. The effect was not substantial, but she had not wanted it to be. Just the fact it was working at all made her happy. If she drank the water over the course of the day, then the effects would be spread out across multiple nurse or doctor visits.

“Thanks, Jii-san.” She grinned at him, intending to get up to hug him, only for the man to beat her to the punch by wrapping her in a huge hug.

“Anything to help.” His response made her grin as he pulled away and sat back down. “Did Katsuya fill you in?”

“The money transfer went through, and Shizuka’s operation is in a couple of weeks’ time.” Yugi paused to remember everything she had been told since the doctors had woken her up from her prolonged anesthesia. “Anzu has a dance recital that she’s promised to record for me to watch. The Dungeon Dice Monsters launch was a massive success, and it’s completely made up for the time we were closed because of Crawford…”

“And then some,” Jii-san huffed. He was torn between still being angry about how much Otogi had harassed Yugi and pleased about the sheer amount of money the game was bringing in.

“And you hired a new guy? Namu?” She double-checked the name.

“Namu Majhul,” her grandfather confirmed. “He’s studying in Japan and needed a part-time job to pay for schooling, so I took him on.”

“And how’s he doing?” The slight grimace on her Jii-san’s face was all the answer she needed. “Oh dear…”

“He clearly lied on his CV,.” the elderly gamer groused, “but he’s getting better. He’s good at shelf-stacking at least.”

“That’s good. I’ll be back to help soo…”

“Oh, no, you won’t.” Her grandfather’s sharp tone cut through the girl’s reassurance. “Until you’re fully healed and have had at least a few extra days’ rest, you are not doing anything strenuous.”

“But, Jii-san!” she protested, knowing how much she was needed in the shop and not wanting to be useless.

“No, Yugi.” The old Game Master shook his head, his voice firm but his hands shaking. “I nearly lost you. I don’t want you pushing yourself too hard too fast, okay? I can manage for another couple of weeks between Katsuya and Namu.”

The Queen of Games paused, watching him carefully for a moment before nodding and sitting back against her pillows. “My voice doesn’t crack anymore.”

He saw the offering for what it was, Yugi trying to make him feel a bit better, and smiled slightly. Her voice was not quite the same as it had been before the fire: it was slightly deeper and a little huskier. However, it was a marked improvement on the first few days after she had been woken, when she had not been able to speak above a whisper without pain creasing her features. He had scolded her more than once when she had overstrained her throat, causing her to completely lose her voice for a few days. Even just a week ago, her voice had vanished if she spoke for too long. That was why he had hunted out the Blue Medicine.

“That’s good.” He nodded. “Katsuya said you’ve been working on your deck?”

Yugi’s expression shifted from nervous to a bright, excitable grin as she pulled her deck holster out from under her pillow, making her grandfather chuckle, and handed it to the old Game Master. “Feel free to take a look.”

He slipped it out of the leather deck case and thumbed through it, being careful with each of the cards, able to sense the power flowing through the deck. He paused when he came to one in particular, a female magician with long blonde hair, in pale blue and pink robes and a huge hat. “She’s brand new, only just released! How did you get one?”

“My friends gave her to me.” Yugi’s grin widened, remembering Anzu saying that she, Honda, and Katsuya had hunted out almost every Darkness Rising booster pack in Domino in order to find the Dark Magician Girl for her. “She’s perfect for my deck, and she works well with your Dark Magician. If he ends up in the graveyard, she’ll get 300 extra attack points.”

“Your Dark Magician now, I gave him to you, remember?” Sugoroku corrected as he examined the Dark Magician Girl. “She’s going to be really useful for your deck with that ability.”

“I know, right? And she’s not the only thing I’ve added to my deck…”

The Spirit of the Puzzle relaxed as her twin got caught up in a conversation regarding the changes they had made to their deck. It was odd to hear the changes to her twin’s voice, changes that the doctors thought might fix themselves once she was fully recovered, but she was just happy to hear the girl talking with only the occasional cough. It was such an improvement from the first few days after Imoto had woken up that she could not help but feel relieved.

Trusting her Jii-san to keep her twin distracted, she slipped into the Puzzle to try and get some rest. Sleep had not been coming easily for Meisa. Nightmares would not leave her alone. Being thrown back into the Shadows when her twin had been pushed down the stairs had created enough of them, but what she had returned to had been so much worse. 

The one firm memory she had of her past was of her brother being killed by Anubis’s magic while trying to protect her. To emerge from the Shadows, weakened and in pain, to find her twin sister was injured and trapped in a fire because she had tried to recover the missing piece of the Millennium Puzzle, not to mention Zorc’s murder attempt…

She had not slept properly since the Black Clown had burned.

She hesitated in the corridor between her soul room and that of her twin sister, not really wanting to return to the Puzzle right now, but knowing she did not really have any right to intrude in her twin’s sanctuary. She turned to open her door and swallowed hard, as just resting her hand against the ice cold metal brought some of the recent memories and emotions stored in the item rushing forward.

 _‘Anesan?!_ ’ Concern flooded down the bond from the living half of their shared soul, making her realise that her twin had seen and felt everything. _‘Are you okay?’_

She hesitated. In comparison to her twin, who just a couple of weeks ago had been in a medically-induced deep sleep and even now was under scrutiny, she was pretty much perfect. Imoto needed her to be okay, because her twin could not spend the energy worrying about her if she wanted to recover. But…

Suddenly the younger twin was in the corridor and wrapping her arms around the older, hugging her tightly. “Anesan… please talk to me.”

Meisa tensed for a moment, having not wanted to interrupt her talk with their grandfather, then she hugged the girl back. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay not to be okay,” the duellist murmured to her other soul, pulling back only enough that she could lock eyes with her other self. “You don’t have to pretend to be okay around me when you’re not. I already know.”

She tapped her head, reminding the Spirit of the Puzzle that their bond was a two-way street and her twin could sense all of her emotions, just like she could sense Yugi’s.

“Can we discuss this later?” the Pharaoh asked, her shoulders sinking. “Jii-san is still outside and wants to talk to you, and I need sleep.”

Yugi paused and considered for a moment before pulling Meisa towards her soul room. The darker half of the soul hesitated for a moment, then let herself be led. The lighter half pulled her twin towards the bed in her room and gently pushed her towards it. “Imoto?”

“You’ve not been sleeping in your room. So try in here. My bed is softer than yours…” There was a moment when the frown on the Queen of Games’ face suddenly shifted to concern. “Do you even have a bed?”

“I…” The Pharaoh hesitated. She did not really have a Soul Sanctuary like her sister did, at least not one that she could find. When she was not in control of the body, she lived inside the sheer insanity that was the maze inside the Millennium Puzzle. A maze that had only gotten more complicated as more questions arose about her existence. 

Before the Puzzle had been shattered, there had been a room near the door that had not been booby trapped, and she had used as her base. Even that had not had a bed as Yugi meant it, though. She had just curled up on the floor and caught sleep wherever she could get it. 

Since the Puzzle had been reassembled, however, that room was gone and the maze had completely changed, and she did not know it well enough to know where was safe to rest yet.

Yugi did not need her to answer. Her hesitation was answer enough. “Anesan. You don’t need to ask permission to sleep in here. You have free reign to come and go from my room as you see fit.”

“I don’t want…” Meisa trailed off at the stubborn look on her little sister’s face, knowing better than to argue with her when she was this determined.

“I know this place represents my soul and everything in it holds memories, but I also know that I can trust you not to damage anything in here.” The stubborn set of her frame did not change, but there was a small, soft smile. “You deserve somewhere to rest and sleep properly. I’m offering you that space, Anesan.”

“Thank you.” The Pharaoh bowed to her twin with a rueful smile, feeling torn between being embarrassed that she needed the hospitality and relieved that Imoto was willing to offer it.

Yugi moved over to the bed and moved the three plushies on it. There was a Dark Magician that held her childhood memories of Jii-san, a blue-green-scaled water dragon which contained the very few good memories of her parents she had, including one amazing trip down to the ocean, and a Kuriboh that held many memories of just hanging around with their friends. Her twin slipped into the bed, tucking herself under the covers, and Yugi paused for a moment before tucking the plushies in with her.

“Imoto… these are your memories…” The Pharaoh hesitated.

“Sometimes when I can’t sleep, resting with the memories in the plushies helps me drift off.” The living soul looked embarrassed as she admitted it. “Maybe… maybe they can help you too.”

“But…”

“They might be my memories, Anesan.” Meisa blinked up at her as Yugi smiled. “But I give them all to you. You don’t have to go without.”

“Imoto?” The Pharaoh breathed, wondering if the girl was aware of what she was offering.

“Get some rest, Anesan.” The Queen of Games turned for the door, pausing in the corridor just outside to look back over her shoulder. “Please?”

“You, too,” the Spirit of the Puzzle mumbled as she relaxed into the soft mattress below her and pulled the Dark Magician plushie closer, cuddling it tightly as she let the good memories carry her into the first restful sleep she had gotten in far too long.

Yugi waited until her twin had fallen asleep before letting out a soft sigh and turning for the exit and her grandfather.

There was a lot they needed to talk about.

* * *

Namu raced along the road, late for his shift and worried that he was going to lose his job. He reached the door and tried to push it open as he walked in, only to find the door was locked up tightly. Confusion made him back up and tilt his head as he tried to work out what was going on. As his eyes passed over the closed sign, he groaned.

He did not have work today. He had been paid for the hours he should have worked, but the store was closed so its owner could go and visit his granddaughter. However, he had completely forgotten that in his rush to avoid getting into trouble with his boss. Not that he was really worried about the job, but he needed the in with the family.

“Oi, Namu.” The teenager in question startled and turned towards the speaker to find Jonouchi Katsuya, Honda Hiroto, Mazaki Anzu, and a girl who reminded him far too much of the descriptions of the Demon Thief, but softer, gentler, and female. Not that it mattered when the Pharaoh herself was female.

He tried to suppress his shudder, putting on a sheepish expression as he scratched the back of his head. “Forgot the store was closed.”

The blonde chuckled as he shifted the bag on his shoulders. “Jii-san’s visiting with Yuge. We’ll be heading there ourselves once I’ve dumped my school crap.”

Here was the chance he had been hoping for over the last few weeks. “Don’t suppose I can come along? I have a ‘Get Well Soon’ present for her I’ve been holding onto since the weekend.”

The guarded look that the four shared at his question made him wonder if he had made a mistake. There was some silent communication between the quartet, but then Honda shrugged and gestured to Anzu, as if saying ‘you decide.’

When she nodded, looking a little pensive, Jou turned to him, his posture standoffish and his voice strained. “I guess, but don’t badger her; she’s still recovering.”

“If she even looks tired, I’ll bow out,” Namu promised, his hands up as if asking them not to shoot. “I don’t want to cause problems.”

Anzu looked a little relieved, but Honda just snorted and leaned against the wall. Both he and the white-haired girl were watching him with a level of distrust that Namu did not understand. He had been nothing but a loyal worker since he had started at the shop. Surely by now he had earned a little trust?

“Namu, come with me?” Jonouchi asked, nodding towards the back of the shop. The Egyptian young man followed quickly, wanting to get away from the brunette guy who leaned closer to the white-haired girl as he passed by. The Duelist led him up into the flat before speaking, allowing Namu to glance around the apartment. 

He was normally only allowed into the kitchen to eat on his break, so he had not gotten a chance to look around properly. It was much more simple than he had envisioned. He had expected a richly furnished apartment, considering that Mutou Yugi had won three million yen. That was not what was here. While there were a couple of games consoles on the tv cabinet, one of which was quite old, the flat was homely in a way he was not used to. It was cozy and comfortable, with well-worn furniture and an older television, rather than posh furnishings and expensive electronics.

“Look, Namu,” the blonde huffed as he dropped his school bag by the table and turned to look at him, stance firm and hands balled tightly into fists, “it’s nothing personal, but Yuge got hurt by a guy she thought was interested in her, so we’re a little hesitant to introduce her to a new person until she’s recovered from that. That said, you’ve been a good guy so far, so Anzu and I are willing to give you a little trust, rather than punch you in the face.”

Namu understood the underlying words, though: ‘Honda doesn’t trust you, and if you hurt Yuge, I’ll pulverize you.’

“I appreciate it,” the Egyptian teen replied with a slight bow, wanting to show respect to the young man in front of him, “and I get it. Me and mine were betrayed by someone we were supposed to be able to trust, too. It hurts.”

Jou tilted his head, considering the other guy. There was no lie in his tone or posture. In fact, the bitterness in his voice was too raw to be faked. “Part of why you moved to Domino?”

“Let’s just say me and my siblings are estranged from the rest of our tri… family,” the shop worker corrected himself, as he shuddered. “Ukhti… Uhhh, I think the Japanese is Oneesan? She got me and Akh away from a bad situation.”

“You’d call her Anesan, we’d call her your Oneesan if she let us.” Katsuya nodded, happy to help the foreign student with his Japanese. Anesan meant ‘my big sister’, while Oneesan was ‘big sister’ and a title of respect to an older female around your own age. “Your ‘Akh’, is he your Oniisan?”

“I think so?” Namu offered, trying to remember and pretty sure Oniisan meant ‘big brother,’ which matched up to what his brother was to him.

The blonde nodded, making a mental note of Namu’s local family for future reference. “Sorry for dragging up bad memories.”

“It’s fine, I just want you to understand that I don’t plan on stabbing anyone in the back.” The other teen’s accent was thicker as he tried to get his emotions under control. The ash-blonde-haired young man shook slightly as he took a deep breath. “I just want to deliver a gift to the girl I’ve heard so much about.”

Jou smiled ruefully at that. Both he and Jii-san had been rather vocal about how awesome Yugi was, so he could not blame the other teen for being curious, but now he wished they had kept their mouths shut. If only to protect Yugi.

“Fair enough.” Jou swept up a small bundle of cash, put it in his wallet, and headed for the door.

“Jonouchi?” Namu’s curious call made the blonde pause. “Who’s the white-haired girl with you?”

“Bakura Amane. She’s a friend of ours. Got a bit of a temper, though, so don’t poke her,” the Duelist warned, still not entirely happy to be taking Amane with them to see their injured friend, but aware that Yugi had been worried about her.

Namu flinched. The Demon Thief had been Ba-Khu-Ra. Bakura was too close for the girl downstairs to be anything but the same person. Not that Namu could do anything about it right now, but it was something to pass on to his sister.

“Come on.” Katsuya headed for the ground floor, forcing Namu to follow. “The others are waiting, and we need to make a stop on the way to the hospital.”

“Where to?” Namu asked, curious and pleased that dropping a little information about himself had garnered him a little extra trust and some rather important information about those around the Pharaoh.

“Burger World. Yuge loves their burgers, and hospital food is gross.”

* * *

Kaiba Seto grimaced as he considered the data from the latest test of the updated Duel Disk.

Technically the machine was ready. However, something about the way it was running was bothering him. There was a difference in the way the Duel Disk worked for him and how it worked for his two other beta testers. It worked for all three of them, but the monsters were more real, more alive when he was using the system than they were for his testers, and until he could work out how to replicate the effects for others, he was not happy to release the system.

It was irritating, but he still had time to work on it. After all, he had been able to get the Duelling Press to believe that the showing at Duelist Kingdom was merely a beta test. Plus the pair he really wanted to use the system against were still in hospital.

A knocking on the office door made him huff and straighten up as he called, “Come in.”

He had been expecting his secretary, so he was surprised and pleased to see that it was his little brother instead, at least until he saw the troubled expression and slightly sharp walk that suggested his Otouto was irritated.

“Mokuba? What’s wrong?” He saved and closed the data file, only to find he had an email alert waiting for him.

“Read the e-mail, then we’ll talk?” his little brother suggested, shutting the door behind him and taking the seat opposite the desk.

Seto nodded, noting that it had been forwarded to him from Mokuba’s e-mail. Since his brother primarily oversaw the Promotions and Marketing Department, he suspected it was something to do with that. He was not wrong, but what he read made him pause.

“Tenma should have phoned you directly.” Mokuba scowled, noting the insulted look on his Oniisan’s face. “If he wanted your attention.”

Seto sat back to consider the e-mail, which was devoid of almost all details. The Tenma twins made up half of Crawford’s adopted sons. Before Duelist Kingdom, Pegasus had split up his adult children between the four major branches of the company. Tenma Yakko, who had sent the e-mail, had been assigned to Industrial Illusions Japan, which was based in Tokyo. He was the less capable of the twins in Kaiba’s opinion, and the Kaiba Corp CEO was fully aware that Tenma did not particularly like him. The younger of the Tenma twins had made no secret of the fact he considered Seto a stuck-up, arrogant brat.

Kaiba was of the opinion that it took one to know one. 

He almost appreciated the official way this meeting request had come through, though. Tenma Gekko, the older twin and current Head of Industrial Illusions America, over in San Francisco, tended to just arrange a meeting with him without giving him much notice of what the conference in question was about. By coming though the Promotions and Marketing Department and mentioning an event, Seto had a rough idea of the upcoming subject.

“Industrial Illusions stock is down because Crawford is ill and because of all the very public complaints from Duelist Kingdom competitors about their complete lack of hospitality.” Mokuba answered his brother’s next question before he could ask it, knowing the elder Kaiba would want to know why the other company was suddenly interested in a publicity stunt.

The CEO snorted as he made a note to pick up any available Industrial Illusions stock. He was pretty sure Bakura Amane had something to do with Pegasus’s illness, not that he was stupid enough to ask her. Plus Duelist Kingdom had been horrible for the American company’s popularity with the higher ranked Duelists that had been competing. There had been no food or drink provided and no covered shelter available once people had been dropped onto the island. Not to mention the Eliminators and goons who had been harassing and manhandling Duelists.

When he ran a roaming tournament, and he would be running one in order to show Industrial Illusions how it was done, he would ensure that his ‘guests’ had hotel rooms sorted out and offer restaurants and businesses a decent size payment if they provided food and drink to competing Duelists during the tournament.

“I’ll hear them out. Industrial Illusions is our biggest partner.” And held all the copyright for Duel Monsters, which was Kaiba Corp’s biggest seller. “Arrange a meeting as soon as possible and see if you can get some information on what they want Kaiba Corp to do.”

“You’re not going to e-mail them?” Mokuba asked, surprised.

“You’re Head of the department they emailed.” Seto shook his head, calling the data file for the Duel Disk back up. “And I trust you to do it right.”

He did not miss the happy smile that put on his little brother’s face, reminding him that less than a year ago he would not have been willing to entrust any of HIS business dealings to Mokuba.

“I won’t let you down, Niisama.” The young teen got to his feet with a slight bounce and bowed quickly, still grinning from ear to ear.

“I know.”

* * *

“Hi, guys!” Yugi grinned as her friends piled into her hospital room, her excitement at seeing her friends waking her twin, who emerged from the Puzzle and took her seat on the bed. Anzu hugged the Queen of Games before taking the seat that Sugoroku had vacated only thirty minutes ago, while Honda took his usual seat on the windowsill. ”Amane, I‘m glad you’re okay!”

When Yugi reached her hands out to the Ring Bearer, Amane stepped forward and took them in hers. “I’m so sorry…”

“It’s okay. I’m fine.” Yugi was honest in her forgiveness. She would never blame her friend for the actions of another.

A light cough drew their attention back to the door, where Katsuya and someone else were stood. Both of the Mutou girls gained a curious head tilt as they beheld the teenager who had accompanied their friends as Amane took a seat on one side of Yugi’s bed. “Umm…”

“Yuge, this is Namu Majhul. He works in the shop.” Katsuya gestured towards the ash-blonde-haired young man. “Namu, this is Mutou Yugi. She’s Mutou-Sensei’s magomasume and also helps run the shop.”

“It’s nice to meet you.” Yugi bowed as best she could from her bed, only to get startled by the depth of the bow Namu gave her in return.

“It is an honour to meet you, Mutou-san.” Namu smiled at her as he straightened, his Japanese heavily accented, and pulled out a small wrapped gift from his pocket. “I have a Get Well Soon present for you from my family.”

Yugi accepted it with a mix of wariness and interest, examining the wrapping paper as Namu took a seat on the side of the bed nearest the door. Her twin sister shifted so she could see what was within the palm-sized velvet box. Opening it revealed a pair of stunning gold drop earrings shaped like Egyptian ankhs that had a lapis lazuli stone embedded in each.

Meisa’s left hand went to the matching ear as a flash of similar earrings on a sandstone table passed through her mind. The memory flash took Yugi’s breath away, and she glanced up at the gift giver, confused and cautious after the whole mess with Otogi.

“Anesan picked them out,” he admitted sheepishly, stumbling slightly over the word ‘Anesan,’ suggesting that had not been what he was going to say, “after I told her you like Egyptian jewelry.”

Yugi nodded, looking back down at the gift, her mind racing. Her research into Egypt had taught her that ankhs symbolized life, while lapis lazuli had been precious back during her twin’s time and supposedly imparted ancient knowledge and the wisdom to use it.

“Thank you, Namu-san.” She spoke softly, deciding that she was going to get her ears pierced so she could wear them when she got out of the hospital. “You didn’t have to give them to me, but they’re gorgeous. Thank your Oneesan for me, too?”

“I will,” Namu promised, relieved the present had gone down well.

“I also have a gift.” Katsuya’s loud voice brought her attention away from the box, and when she looked up, closing the box with a snap, he waved a Burger World bag at her.

“Oh my gosh, you are a lifesaver.” Yugi grinned brightly as she put the box safely on her bedside stand. “The food here is awful.”

Namu, to her relief, just settled back and leaned against the wall by the door, rather than trying to press himself any closer, as she opened the bag to find two burgers and a medium fries. While she examined the food, Katsuya sat on the bed, narrowly missing sitting on the Spirit of the Puzzle. Meisa huffed but could not help but forgive him when she realized that he was putting himself between them and the new guy, who, if she was reading the room correctly, Anzu and Katsuya semi-trusted, but Honda and Amane did not.

“Please excuse me?” Yugi asked, looking sheepish but wanting to start on the food. When her friends did not object, she more than happily started eating, pausing before her first bite to ask Namu, “So what brings you to Domino?”

“Ukhti had work in the area with Akh, so I started studying locally,” Namu explained, slipping into Arabic when he mentioned his siblings from old habit, “but schools around here are expensive.”

He was not wrong. Yugi had looked into other schools herself during her worst days, back during the worst of the bullying, and she knew Jii-san could not afford to send her to a better school.

“When I saw the job posting in the window of your shop, I applied and, well…” He grinned. “Here we are.”

She nodded, taking a moment to finish her mouthful before speaking further. “I hope you’re not regretting it.”

“Not at all.” Namu’s smile was bright and honest. “Mutou-Sensei has been great, and Jonouchi’s been really helpful. I just hope I’m not annoying them.”

Meisa watched her friends closely as Katsuya waved off Namu’s concern. She was pretty sure she was right, and she wished she could talk to the others in order to ask what they thought of the young man. Frustration seeped into her. Unless Namu went away, she was not going to be able to talk to the others openly.

Yugi, sensing her irritation, briefly glanced at her twin, before squeezing Katsuya’s hand slightly and glancing towards Namu. She felt guilty about wanting him herded out, but she was tired, still healing and unwilling to let her twin get riled up again, when she had finally gotten her to relax.

Her friend took the hint and turned to Namu to say something, only for the other teen to understand before he could open his mouth.

“Sorry, I should have waited until you came home to meet you.” Namu bowed again, still smiling. “I’ll head out. It’s been an honor, though.”

“Namu,” Yugi called as he turned to leave. When he paused and looked over his shoulder, Yugi smiled at him. “Thank you. Really. I look forward to working with you.”

“Me, too.” Namu nodded and left, shutting the door behind him.

The moment it was closed and he was away from the window built into it, he bounced slightly and fist pumped.

That had gone better than he had anticipated.

If he could get close to the Pharaoh, he could take her to meet his Ukhti, and then they could share their side of the story before the rest of the Tomb Keeper tribe arrived in Domino.

When they did, they would turn the Puzzle Bearer against the Ishtars, branding the trio of siblings traitors and murderers and preventing them from helping the Pharaoh complete her destiny so they could finally be free.

Free of the traditions that they had never wanted to follow. Traditions that had made their father Challenge his own daughter and then break the agreement he had made after her victory. Traditions that had caused his father to die and led to the trio fleeing from the catacombs.

Traditions that would no longer be needed once the Thief Queen was finally dealt with and the Pharaoh went to the afterlife.

And speaking of the Thief Queen, he needed to speak with his sister.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What’s this?  
> That’s right, it’s a second chapter in Feb.  
> From now on, or at least for the foreseeable future, there will 2 updates a month. One of the 1st and one on the 15th of the month.  
> This is my present to you guys for the 10th Birthday of the Ennead series.  
> As of the 23rd of Feb 2021, Ennead is 10 years old!!!  
> To find out more, go to https://enneadau.tumblr.com/ :)
> 
> This wonderful piece of art by Shiro/Sora. I absolutely love that not only did that capture this scene perfectly, but they went and researched jewellery in Egypt so they had Meisa’s set from Egypt perfect too AND understood more about how jewellery was important in Ancient Egypt!  
> Plus a second piece of awesome art I needed to share!  
> Their tumblr can be found here: http://shiro-the-fan-theorist.tumblr.com/


	3. The Story Told

Kujaku Mai looked around Domino International Airport as she stepped out of the arrival gates and was relieved to spot Anzu. She was holding up a giant version of a Harpie Lady card to make her easier to spot.

The blonde-haired, amethyst-eyed Harpie Duelist headed in the dancer’s direction, shouldering her carry-on bag and pulling her wheeled suitcase behind her. “Hey, Mazaki. Please tell me there’s somewhere with a drive-through on the way to yours.”

“There can be a McDonald’s stop.” Anzu took the suitcase from the exhausted young woman who had just changed time zones several times and started towards the car. “Okaasan’s keeping the car running for us.”

Mai just nodded, having departed John Franklin Kennedy Airport over fourteen hours ago, in the early hours of the American morning and having not slept well thanks to turbulence the entire way. She just hoped that wherever she was going to be setting up for the duration of her stay was quiet. Domino was fourteen hours ahead of New York, and jet lag was hitting her hard.

“You came at just the right time. Yugi’s getting out of hospital today,” Anzu shared, noting that Mai was listing slightly and wondering if she was going to make it to the house before falling asleep.

“Meant to get here sooner, but I had to deal with some issues with an ex-boyfriend.” The Harpie Duelist grumbled out the words, displeased at Jean-Claude Magnum’s latest in his attempts to get her to marry him. This time, he had declared his love for her using a skywriter over the airport, successfully grounding all flights until the poor pilot he had duped into working for him, probably by way of a large bribe, had been grounded, and causing her original flight to be cancelled. “Mind if I start helping you with your deck tomorrow? I’m too tired to deal with a complete overhaul today.”

“That’s fair,” the dancer allowed, a little disappointed but not surprised. “Will you be coming to the surprise get-together when Yugi gets home?”

“Entirely depends if I’m awake.” Kujaku let out a huff as she shifted the bag on her shoulders. “I’d like to, but if you can’t wake me up, then go on without me.”

Anzu nodded and led Mai out to the car, where her Okaasan popped the boot and stepped out to introduce herself. There was a moment’s pause as the older woman looked the Harpie Duelist up and down, minor disapproval on her features that was hurriedly schooled away as she asked, “Kujaku-san? I’m Mazaki Yui. We’ve set up the spare room for you.”

“Kujaku Mai. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Mai bowed carefully, reminding herself that it did not matter how tired she was or how much those sorts of looks annoyed her, politeness to your host went a long way. “I can put towards food while I’m here, if it helps?”

“We can manage, don’t worry about that.” Yui waved it off as she helped Anzu heft the suitcase into the car boot, wondering what was in it to make it that heavy. “Feel free to use our home like your own, within reason.”

Mai’s eyes flickered over the bengoshi kisho on her lapel, labelling the woman as an attorney, and nodded, suddenly understanding both that she needed to be on good behavior and that Anzu’s family was better off than she had anticipated. “It’s appreciated.”

“Come on then. It’s an hour’s drive home, and I’m sure you’d like to sleep.” The older Mazaki headed for the driver’s door. Mai slipped into the back, glad for the soft interior, as Anzu slipped into the front passenger seat, and once seat belts had been applied, they drove off.

Mai did not make it past ten minutes before she had slipped into dreamland.

* * *

Kaiba Seto grimaced as he put in his earpiece, ready for the online meeting.

He preferred to interact with people face-to-face when it came to business matters, but apparently Tenma was ‘too busy’ to come up to Domino, and Mokuba had decided that instead of making it look like Kaiba Corp was at the beck and call of its business partner by having him go down to Tokyo, the digital meeting was better.

His brother was not wrong. He was still peeved at the CEO of Industrial Illusions for what had happened at Duelist Kingdom. If Kaiba Corp had not been so reliant on Duel Monsters for its projects, he would have severed ties already, like he had with the group of traitors on his old Board of Directors. However, even with the upcoming deal with Nintendo and Game Freak, regarding their Pocket Monsters franchise, he could not afford to tell the American company to shove off.

He did, however, have more leeway than he had previously had. Twenty percent of Industrial Illusions currently sat in his grasp. He had bailed out the other company by scooping up the stock that had been sold off by investors during the stock price crash.

It was selfishly satisfying to Seto that Duelist Kingdom had been a bigger mess for the man who had tried to take over his company than it had been for him, especially because his company had come out stronger from it. Kaiba Corp’s stock prices had jumped up with the exhibition of the ‘prototype’ Duel Disk and the fact he had managed to make the finals of a tournament where only the best had been allowed to compete, proving his skills had not dimmed.

Of course it had also showed that Yugi’s win over him had been skill, rather than sheer dumb luck, which he was not entirely happy about. However, he had plans to take his title back from her soon. He just needed to finish making the Duel Disk commercially viable, and then he was going to challenge her again.

As he slipped the earpiece in and connected to I2-Eye, the Industrial Illusions video conference server, he took a deep breath. Dealing with Tenma Yakko was never entirely fun, but he had a feeling that this time I2 needed Kaiba Corp as much as his company needed the American one.

Within moments of coming online, the computer started making the most obnoxious ringing noise. He glanced up to where his brother was sat off screen with notepad and pen, ready to make notes of anything that he would need to remember later. When Mokuba nodded, Seto hit the answer button.

“Kaiba Seto,” the younger and more obnoxious of the Tenma brothers said immediately. “Thank you for finding the time to attend this meeting.”

Just the fact that Yakko was being overly polite told him that whatever the meeting was about was important to the other man.

“What can Kaiba Corp help you with today?” Kaiba asked, sitting back and trying to hide his pleasure that he might have the other company over a barrel.

“Industrial Illusions will be running a publicity event in Tokyo, and we are inviting Kaiba Corp to take part,” Yakko answered with a slight huff, “considering you might have something to show off by then.”

“What exactly does this publicity event involve?” Seto refused to commit to anything until he had more details.

There was a pause, and then Yakko grimaced slightly. “Quite frankly, Kaiba, I don’t know what my father was up to with Duelist Kingdom, but it has turned into an absolute nightmare for the company. We will be publicly apologizing for the disaster of that tournament and announcing a small compensation to anyone affected by that mess. That includes you and Mutou. We are hoping to present it to you both in person at the event, as well as formally announce Mutou as the Queen of Games and World Champion. We were hoping your Duel Disks would be ready so you could formally announce the release date, too.”

Kaiba sat back, thinking quickly. “I have plans regarding the release that a flat date would interfere with.”

“Oh?” Yakko tilted his head slightly, curiosity clear.

There was a moment when Seto hesitated, unhappy to announce his plans in case Yakko tried to steal them. Then he remembered that right now, Industrial Illusions would be loath to interfere because they needed to recover from the Duelist Kingdom disaster first. Plus he owned a fifth of their company, which was more than each of Pegasus’s children did. They could beat him if they combined their holdings, but on a one-to-one basis, he owned more of Industrial Illusions then they did.

And that gave him the upper hand.

“I am running a tournament for top-ranked Duelists. Anyone ranked with four stars or higher will be eligible to compete. First come, first served for the first forty-eight Duelists, plus Duel Disks included with entry. Once the tournament is over, I will be releasing the system to the public.”

Tenma nodded, thinking. “I can offer a small stipend from Industrial Illusions to assist in funding the tournament. Would you be against announcing it at the joint publicity event for both companies?”

Kaiba heard his brother let out a quiet, unamused huff but did not react to it. “I want full details of the event; I want safety and security guaranteed for myself and my brother, and I want to be the one to do the Kaiba Corp announcements.”

“Safety? Kaiba, what makes you think you two would be unsafe?” Yakko protested, irritated.

“Maybe you should look into Duelist Kingdom a little harder before you ask me that question.” His eyes hardened and his posture tensed as flickers of memory reminded him of how close he had come to losing his brother, and of all the hospital trips the younger Kaiba had required for the bullet wound to his leg. “If it cannot be guaranteed, I will not be attending and I will be recommending that Mutou Yugi does not either. Especially considering that she is in hospital right now. I can announce my event without risking the safety of my brother.”

“Yugi has to attend. The Queen of Games contract requires that she attends at least one event chosen by Industrial Illusions each quarter.” Tenma’s tone was sharp in response to the ice in Seto’s voice. “Unless she wants to lose the title.”

Kaiba was pretty convinced that Yugi would not actually care if she lost the Queen of Games title if it ensured that none of her friends and family had to run the risk of getting their souls ripped out again, but he did not voice the opinion. Instead he coolly raised one eyebrow, “I hope you’re planning on paying for travel and accommodation for your sponsored Duelist. That’s your company’s responsibility after all.”

“Gekko is dealing with that.” Yakko shrugged, “Industrial Illusions is fully aware of the asset that we have access to and will be doing our best to ensure full cooperation.”

Kaiba snorted. The ‘asset’ in question was a rather stubborn teenager. Mutou Yugi would do what was best for her family and friends first and foremost. If that meant giving up her title, she would do it, and Industrial Illusions would lose the first female Duelist whose reputation they could keep on a leash. A leash that would have been easier to control if Crawford had been successful at ripping her soul out, but a leash nonetheless.

Not that there were no other female World Class Duelists; in fact there were currently three other highly-ranked options.

The Harpie Duelist, Kujaku Mai, a Prize Hunter who was semi-infamous on the circuit for using her looks to manipulate men, was rumored to be a cheat, had a poor attitude towards most male Duelist,s and was known to only go after the big ticket prizes rather than being willing to compete at almost anything. Plus she had been sponsored once, but had decided she did not like having to answer to anyone and bought her contract out so she could go independent.

The Kung Fu Duelist, Wong Vivian, who was supposedly the Asian Champion, despite Seto himself and Yugi both being better than her, was a model turned actress and was known to whine when things did not go her way and attach herself to anyone with money or influence, including himself more than once.

Then there was the Deck Burn Duelist and potentially soon-to-be North American Champion, Hopkins Rebecca, who was only twelve years old and still carried a teddy bear, causing some people to dismiss her as a child and not take her seriously. The occasional temper tantrum the girl threw when things went wrong only served to reinforce that view.

None of those were options that particularly appealed to Industrial Illusions or Kaiba Corp, though Mai’s recent attitude and behavior shift during her New York pro league duels was making her more appealing. Having Mutou under their thumb would give the creators of Duel Monsters a better chance to appeal to the greater female Dueling audience, which was a market that was sorely lacking saturation. 

“If we agree to your terms, will you complete an exhibition match, photoshoot, and interview at the event for Industrial Illusions?” Yakko pressed. “We would share any photos taken so they can be used by Kaiba Corp, and you would not be expected to assist with set up except to ensure we have the microphone levels correct.”

“Who would I be dueling, and would you expect it to be done using the Duel Disks?” Seto considered it carefully. He hated interviews and photoshoots, but at the same time he could see what Industrial Illusions was going for. The top two Duelists in the world coming together to promote the injured company would go a long way to ensuring a bounce-back.

“Yugi Mutou, and yes.”

The chance to use the new system on Yugi first and defeat her publicly in a recorded event decided it for him. If he defeated her in her first public outing as ‘Queen of Games’, it would embarrass Industrial Illusions and prove that he was better than her.

“Fine.” Kaiba nodded, internally excited, though he hid it well. “As long as the security conditions are met, I will attend, alongside my brother, and I will have my presentation ready for the event.”

“I will email you the details once they’re settled. Industrial Illusions will pay for your accommodation and travel since you are attending an event we are running,” Tenma rattled off. “I thank you for your time.”

With that Yakko ended the call.

“Will the Duel Disk be ready by then?” Mokuba asked, having stayed silent for almost the entire meeting. 

“The final prototype is nearly finished, barring any unexpected additions to the game.” His brother nodded, mind already elsewhere. “Start preparing a cost analysis of a three-day tournament, end of March to start of April, involving shutting down the entertainment district of Domino for two of those days. Include costs towards food and accommodation for competitors as well as stipends for businesses affected by the close-down. Also include bonuses for restaurants and cafes willing to provide a discount to competitors.”

“Niisan?” Mokuba pressed, noting that Seto was considering the unpredictable winter weather in his choice of dates. Winter in Domino could be anything from six inches of snow in November to tee-shirt-and-shorts and the forecast was almost never accurate. By holding the competition at the end of April, the weather would start being more reasonable again, and that would be one less complaint competitors had. 

Plus it allowed Kaiba Corp to focus on its holiday schedule without having to worry about running a tournament on top of it. While it would be a shame to lose the Duel Disk as a holiday release, standing out in the cold to duel would not be as appealing as using a brand new piece of technology to duel in the warmer weather. Demonstrating and announcing a Spring release date now would give Duelists time to save up, and the summer sales would be insane. 

“Let’s show Industrial Illusions how to run a roaming event competently, shall we?” Seto’s smirk and slightly vindictive tone made his brother chuckle. “Plus a good event will push sales of the Duel Disk through the roof.”

“Of course, Niisan.” Mokuba grinned as he headed for the door and back to his office. “I’ll have that ready by tomorrow evening.”

“Good. Oh, and Mokuba?” The younger Kaiba brother paused and looked back over his shoulder. “Mutou’s out of hospital today, so you can send that prototype to the Kame Game Shop.”

“It’s already there, Niisan.”

* * *

Yugi had never been so glad to see the front of the Kame Game Shop as she was when the taxi pulled up outside her home. As her grandfather thanked the driver and paid the man, she picked up her bag and exited the vehicle.

She could sense the relief from her other self as she let herself into the currently closed shop and smiled, aware that her twin disliked the hospital as much as she did. She was just glad that now she was home, she would be able to cast a life point recovery magic card to fix herself up the rest of the way, and she could stop worrying about her voice giving out on her and her lungs aching.

 _‘Imoto, listen.’_ The Queen of Games paused halfway up the stairs at her dark’s call to pay attention. Low murmuring from the partly open door up ahead made her smile. _‘Sounds like the others are here.’_

 _‘I’m not complaining.’_ Yugi smiled as she continued up the steps, noting that her friends’ voices went silent and the light from the kitchen vanished when her foot landed on the squeaky stair halfway up, suggesting they had planned some sort of surprise.

She dropped her house keys loudly on the kitchen counter, noting that the living room had been dropped into darkness as well, and got herself a glass of water before she slipped into the main room of the apartment. Almost the moment she entered, the light got switched on and her friends jumped out. “Surprise!”

“Hi, guys.” She grinned, happy to see Katsuya, Anzu, and Honda, and pleasantly surprised to see Amane amongst the group as she dropped her bags by the door and noted the coffee table had a stack of presents on it.

“Welcome home.” Anzu crossed the room and hugged her, having left Mai snoring in the spare room of the Mazaki family’s home after the Harpie Duelist had thrown a pillow at her. Yugi reciprocated happily, pleased to be home and just moments from feeling well. Once the dancer pulled away, Yugi took a seat and pulled out her deck.

“Give me a sec, guys, and then I’ll be…” She paused when Amane put one of her hands over Yugi’s.

“You might want to open my present before you cast that,” the Ring Bearer informed her, passing over a wrapped object shaped like a bottle.

Even before she took it, she could sense the Shadows emanating from it. Unwrapping the gift revealed a gently glowing green drink that was labelled ‘Emergency Provisions x 5’. When she glanced up at her friend, she found that Amane looked slightly embarrassed at the attention.

“I figured you would need that when you got out, and it’s about time I stopped being afraid of the Ring.” The white-haired girl shifted from foot to foot, not admitting how happy it had made the spirit of her item to be able to start teaching her how the magic worked.

“Thank you.” Yugi really meant it as she downed the liquid inside, which turned out to be lemonade. She winced as the liquid flowed down her throat, releasing a magic that was not completely compatible with the human body, and causing a momentary ache in her stomach. It quickly faded, replaced by a pleasant tingling as the lingering injuries from her fall, the fire, and everything else were healed. It even felt that there was a little left over, should she receive further injuries.

Once she was clearly feeling better, the others swarmed forward with their gifts, leaving space on her left side for her grandfather to sit, while they ranged around the rest of the space. Amane backed up to grab the chair closest to the television, having given her gift already and sticking close to her bag, where the Millennium Ring lay hidden.

She slipped her hand into the bag to rest on the golden artifact, allowing her a weak connection to her other self but not creating a strong enough bond for the spirit to take control. _‘Thanks for helping with the healing spell. And for giving me this time with my friends.’_

 _‘I promised you more chances to spend time with your friends safely, and I’m keeping my word. In more important things, I’ve been telling you that learning magic would be useful, have I not?’_ The Spirit of the Ring took advantage of the weak bond to watch through her sister’s eyes as the girl who had helped them and nearly died because of it opened the gift from Anzu, revealing a new satchel to replace the bag that had burned up in the fire at the Black Clown.

Amane did not answer to start with. The Christian upbringing she had grown up with until the accident that had killed her mother and little brother told her that magic was bad and she should not consort with demons, like the one who was merged with her darker half’s part of their soul. However, the many attempts to get rid of the demonic artifact had failed, and recent events had shown that even if she did not really want to acknowledge magic, she could not avoid it.

People would come hunting for her Ring, and if she did not start learning how to control it, they would take it and try to use it against the people she cared about. Plus she needed to learn more about the magical item if she was going to help her other self push back at Zorc long enough to prevent an ‘End of the World’ situation. 

That and she had promised to learn magic in exchange for the Spirit of the Ring backing off a little, so she could spend time with her friends without worrying about the Thief Queen murdering them. 

It did not mean she was entirely comfortable with it, but she had to believe that she would be forgiven for using magic if she was only doing it to help people and protect the Ring from falling into worse hands.

Even if the little voice in the back of her mind reminded her that by listening to her dark half, she was falling under the sway of the demon.

 _‘I guess… you were right. It did help,’_ Amane admitted slowly, watching as the present from Yugi’s Ojiisan replaced the gold bangle that had been damaged beyond repair. Amane mentally winced when she saw it, remembering that the bracelet had been broken when Yugi had used it to wedge a door open for her. _‘And we did owe her.’_

She felt her dark grimace at that. While the Spirit of the Ring no longer hated the Puzzle Bearer, she did hate owing anyone anything. _‘Yeah, well, we’re paid up now, so it’s fine. You’re still gunna learn, though, right?’_

 _‘I need to know more if I’m going to defend myself,_ ’ Amane responded, not completely certain that the debt was entirely cleared, considering they would not have escaped captivity as quickly as they had without Yugi’s help, and they had had repaid her by nearly killing her. The Ring Bearer could feel her dark’s pleasure flowing through her as she sat back and watched Yugi unwrap a huge ball-shaped present to find a Kuriboh plushy that was easily the size of her chest. The delighted noise she made as she hugged it tightly made Katsuya grin and glance at Honda, who smiled back, pleased they had pooled their resources to buy it.

As Doctor Mutou started dishing out drinks, Yugi turned to her, a pensive expression on her features as she asked, “Amane? Can I talk to Ba-Khu-Ra?”

The Ring Bearer frowned slightly but nodded and surprised the others by pulling the Ring from her bag and putting it on before mentally stepping back. The Spirit of the Ring took control easily. “What do you want, Runt? I’m not going to apologize.”

“I don’t expect you to. Before Otogi messed with us, I promised I’d summon the Dark Magician so we can ask him questions about Egypt since he was there.” The Thief Queen’s eyes widened at the reminder, having thought Yugi had forgotten. “Since Amane saved me from using energy casting a healing spell, I thought I’d give it a try.”

“You sure, Yuge?” Katsuya worried, putting a hand on her shoulder.

“We want answers. I’m well enough to get them now.” The Puzzle Bearer nodded at him, looking determined, before turning back to the Thief Queen. “If you’re ready, of course.”

“I’m more than ready to get answers from that prick.” Bakura nodded, getting to her feet and circling around behind Honda, pretty sure that the monster would hesitate to attack her if she had a living shield. “It’s about time Mahad answered for his crimes.”

Yugi took a breath, drew a card from her deck, and briefly smiled as the top card was revealed to be the card she wanted, and then held it aloft, drawing power from the Puzzle as she called, “Dark Magician, I summon you in Defence Mode.”

The Queen of Games was rather glad she was sat down as the world spun in time with the appearance of a swirl of purple and black energy in the middle of the room. It rose up and touched the ceiling for a moment before dying down to reveal the purple-armoured magician kneeling on one knee on the living room carpet, staff crossed in front of it.

Ginka, who had been sneaking over to Yugi’s side, hissed loudly and ran away, startling the male spellcaster, who stood, blue eyes sweeping the room. When they rested on Yugi, he bowed deeply. “My Pharaoh.”

Surprised he was speaking Japanese rather than Egyptian, but deciding that it made sense, after all, how could a summoned creature listen to its caller if it could not draw from the language of its summoner, Meisa took control and got to her feet.

She mentally supported her dizzy light and made a mental note that if they were going to summon high-powered monsters like this, they needed much more practice, as she called. “Rise, Dark Magician… or should I call you Mahad?”

The Duel Monster startled and looked at her sharply. “You remember?”

“No, but I’ve been informed.” The Pharaoh gestured to Ba-Khu-Ra. When the dark monster’s eyes followed her arm, his expression was not what the Thief Queen expected it to be. Instead of anger or hate, guilt and regret were clear on his features.

“Ba-Khu-Ra… I owe you and our Pharaoh an apology.” He spoke softly, his gaze turning towards the floor, earning a surprised noise from Anzu, who had sat next to Yugi.

“What happened, Mahad?” the Spirit of the Puzzle demanded, her voice sharp. Honda and Katsuya glanced at each other, recognising the tone as irritation and confusion.

“I…” The Dark Magician gulped then looked up at her. “I failed you, my Pharaoh. I failed you, I failed Egypt, and I failed her.”

The ‘her’ was aimed at the Thief Queen, who stepped out from behind Honda, confused and partly ticked that things were not going as she had always suspected they would. 

“What do you mean?” Ba-Khu-Ra snapped out. “You tried to kill me.”

“It all started with an assassination attempt on our Pharaoh…”

* * *

Three thousand years ago: The Palace of the Pharaoh, Khemet, Egypt… 

“Once court is over, I need you to send the executioner to the throne room,” the Pharaoh informed him as they headed for the room in question, ready to oversee the day’s issues. “I gave my Uncle one chance, and he has thrown it away. If he will not assist with the memorial for Kul Elna and try to make things right, then he leaves me no choice. He was lucky I even gave him that, considering what he did to my father.”

“I’m sorry…” Mahad nearly put his hand on her shoulder, but pulled back at the last second, remembering that he was not supposed to touch her in public, and the guards at the door to the throne room made this a public area.

“It changes nothing.” The expression said that she did not care, but the heavy tone said it was a lie. “I always suspected he had no intention of making things right. This is just evidence of it. It does mean that heirs are a more urgent matter now, though. People will be uneasy if the only one available to inherit the throne after me is Seth. I trust him, but with his father’s crimes public knowledge..”

Mahad did not respond to that. He did not need to. Seth knew the Pharaoh’s secret and had not revealed it, even to his father, proving they could trust him, but his reputation was ruined until he could prove himself loyal to the throne. He had already made some progress on that by helping the Pharaoh bring his father in for judgement and protecting the ruler when the accused had lunged for her with a dagger.

Not that most people knew the worst of it. They were not aware that the crimes Akhenaden had been found guilty of were just some of what he was suspected of. 

There was not enough evidence to prove that he had been deliberately offing his brother’s children so his own could rule, but Akhenaden had been in charge of the information that had led to the deaths of the Pharaoh’s older brothers during the war, had held back information that could have caused the royal twins to be rescued before one of them had been slain by Anubis, claiming that he had never received it, and had been on the same barge as the Pharaoh’s little sister when she had somehow fallen into the Nile during the Festival of Sobek. There was probably some tie between the man and the disappearance of the Pharaoh’s older sister, too, but there had been very little to go on.

Between those suspicious coincidences and the fact he had been the last person to see the Pharaoh’s father alive before Akhenamkhanon’s death, he could not blame the girl before him for her fury.

The deaths of every one of her siblings meant that she was going to have to provide heirs of her line herself, and if she wanted to do that, she was going to have to out herself as a woman.

That was something that could not happen safely until Akhenaden was dealt with. Permanently.

She had offered the man exile, and he had spat in her face. Thus execution was the only way forward. Considering he was convicted of treachery, mass murder, and regicide, and was suspected of much more, it was no more than he deserved.

The Pharaoh drew herself up regally and nodded to the guards, who pushed the huge throne room doors open.

And then everything went to hell. Four men burst out of the crowd by the doors, swords drawn. Mahad and the two guards leapt into action, managing to prevent three of the men from reaching their ruler. The fourth, however, ducked around the man who tried to get in the way and swung for the Pharaoh.

She drew her own sword and blocked the blade from reaching her stomach, only for the man to swivel around, shimmering dagger in his off hand, and try to stab her in the chest. The Pharaoh recoiled, twisting to avoid the blow and managing to avoid all but a shallow slash across her upper arm, before bringing her blade around and driving it into her attacker’s stomach. The man dropped his weapons in his shock and staggered back, ripping her blade from his stomach with his movement as several other guards arrived, pinning the surviving assassins and searching them as the sounds of the panicking nobility finally seeped through.

“I need Isis and Karim. Now.” Mahad heard the waver in his Pharaoh’s voice as she made the order and turned to look at her, his expression paling as she stumbled over to the nearest pillar and used it to keep herself upright. “And get Seth to calm the nobles.”

“My Pharaoh, are you…”

“My Pharaoh!” A guard cut off Mahad’s concerned question as he showed the leader an emblem that had been hidden in the men’s clothing. The Ring Bearer hissed as he beheld it.

It was the symbol of the Thief’s Guild. Ba-Khu-Ra’s guild.

The Pharaoh’s eyes narrowed as she turned to the men on the ground, Isis and Karim already hurrying through the crowd to her side. “Who sent you?”

“Ba-Khu-Ra,” the least injured hissed out as his comrades slowly bled out on the floor and the guards bound those who were not fatally injured. “We were hired by Ba-Khu-Ra.”

Mahad frowned. He did not entirely trust the thief who had wormed her way into the Pharaoh’s good graces back when the ruler had been a princess, but this sort of attack was not her style. If Ba-Khu-Ra had wanted to assassinate the Pharaoh, she would have done it herself.

His train of thought was derailed by the sounds of a pained moan, and the Pharaoh slipped down the pillar and sat on the floor, skin greying and gaze unfocused as she trembled in pain.

Poison.

He cursed under his breath and scooped up the injured leader, thankful that where she had fallen was out of sight of the nobles in the throne room, before running for the palace’s House of Healing, hoping that they would know what to do.

“Mahad... Get Ba-Khu-Ra back… To the palace...” the Pharaoh gasped out between pained breaths as they moved. “This... wasn’t her... Poison… not her style.”

“I’ll find her,” Mahad promised, “but you need to rest now.”

He did not need to press. It was a sign of how bad she felt that she just gave a slight nod and closed her eyes, leaning into him as he reached the healer’s rooms. The moment the trained medics saw their Pharaoh in his arms, her skin now clammy, they had him lay her down and move back so they could work.

“Mahad.” Shada, the Bearer of the Millennium Key, had apparently followed him to the House of Healing. “How is he?”

“I don’t know,” he admitted, watching the doctors work, “but I need you to guard him, with as many guards as you need.”

“Where are you going?” The Key Bearer’s eyes narrowed. “Isis and Karim are questioning the men now, and Seth is calming the nobles. You’re needed here, to help protect our Pharaoh.”

“He’s given me an order. I’m to bring Ba-Khu-Ra in,” Mahad said as he turned from the other Sacred Guardian to look at where the healers were trying to use leeches to draw out the venom under his Pharaoh’s skin.

“I understand.” Shada’s tone was sympathetic, making Mahad turn back to him. “I’ll protect our Pharaoh while you drag the traitor back.”

“Thank you, Shada.” He turned to leave and felt something metallic bump against his hand, making him stop as his head spun for a moment.

“Mahad, are you alright?” Shada asked, his voice echoing slightly in his head.

The Ring Bearer nodded, briefly leaning against the door frame to gather his bearings.

“You will want to take guards with you,” Shada suggested, matching the sudden desire he felt, and making it seem like an excellent idea, “for your own safety in case the thief gets nasty.”

“I will,” the Ring Bearer agreed, having no reason not to trust the other Sacred Guardian, despite the fact Shada was not one of the few that knew the Pharaoh’s secret. “Keep him safe while I’m gone.”

With that Mahad headed for the gates, aware of where the Pharaoh had sent the thief on her latest mission for the palace and where he should be able to find her. The guards that were gathered by the gates, ordered there by High Priest Shada, were ready to go. Mahad noted that none of them were from the group that he had hired after taking over Akhenaden’s role as Head of the Palace Guards, but he did not have time to worry about it. If he spent too long moving out, Ba-Khu-Ra would have moved on and he would have to hunt her down.

“Hold off on attacking Bakura. I will speak with her first,” he ordered, looking around and noting that each one of the seven seemed to understand his orders.

He and the guards rode out, heading for the eastern edge of Khemet and the Thief Guild Hall that Mahad knew was there. He was not particularly happy to be breaking the thief’s trust, but she needed to be brought in, so there was no other choice.

He was almost there when a child ran out in front of his horse and he was forced to stop in order to avoid running the child over, allowing the guards to get ahead of him. The terrified child froze in fear, like a sand cat who had been startled by sudden movement in the night, and Mahad was forced to dismount and herd the child back to his mother, frustrating the Priest.

The woman’s grateful platitudes, given while stood in front of his horse, did nothing but frustrate the Sacred Guardian of the Ring, who pushed her aside as the sounds of a fight could be heard from the next street over. He reached it in time to see Bakura, bleeding heavily and desperate, surrounded by the men he had brought with him, snap and unleash the magic she had been learning from the Pharaoh.

The great serpentine Ka beast, Diabound, appeared. Half human, half snake, its grey, stone-like skin repelled any weapon the guards could strike it with as it swept them away with its tail, giving its summoner a chance to escape down the nearest alley.

Mahad gave chase after the stumbling, injured thief as her Ka beast ripped apart, devoured, and killed the guards, protecting its summoner. He caught up to her easily and grabbed her right arm without thinking. The pained yowl his actions caused made him let go, belatedly realising that the arm in question was hanging wrong in two places.

It was too late to apologize, though: Ba-Khu-Ra wheeled around and stole his sword from his belt, then drove it into Mahad’s stomach with her good arm and wrenched upwards into his chest, terror, shock, and pain in her expression as she backed up. “Ma…Mahad. Why?”

“You need...” He staggered and fell to his hands and knees, the world fading around him as his life blood spilled onto the desert sands and leaked into a blade-damaged lung. “You need to return… to the palace. Pharaoh’s… orders…”

“What?!” The thief’s voice trembled. “I didn’t order her death!”

Mahad tried to answer, but blood emerged from his lips instead of words. He fell the rest of the way, painfully landing on the dusty ground beneath him. He could not breathe; he could not explain or apologize. With death encroaching quickly, he did not even know why he had brought the men with him--he could have handled this alone.

He had to be there to help fix the mess he had made. That was all that mattered.

* * *

Modern Day: Kame Game Shop, Domino, Japan… 

“…I used the last of my strength to cast the spell that would fuse me with my Ka beast.” Mahad had not looked up from the floor since he began his story. “But I swear, Bakura, I had no intention of attacking you when I left the palace. They broke my orders.”

Bakura was vibrating as she beheld the Dark Magician, hands balled into fists as she snarled out, “Do you have any idea what I had to do to survive?”

Everyone’s head snapped in her direction at the pure venom in her voice. Katsuya moved between her and Meisa as her magic responded to her fury, Shadows flowing around her like flames.

“If I hadn’t sworn a contract with Zorc, I would have died because of you,” she hissed out, power causing her voice to echo. “I lost my afterlife because your men tried to kill me, and you’re telling me it was a mistake?! That they were overzealous?!”

“I swear I ordered them not to attack you,” the Dark Magician promised her, raising his staff as he realized he might have to defend himself, “but they weren’t my men. I wasn’t the one who hired them. They were…”

Before he could say anything more Bakura’s control snapped and Diabound appeared, knocking over furniture and breaking appliances as it arrived. Before anyone could react the serpentine monster unleashed a powerful burst of dark energy, which struck the Dark Magician head on, disintegrating the spellcaster.

Meisa cried out in pain and slumped into the sofa as 2500 points’ worth of life energy were ripped away with her Duel Monster’s destruction. The serpentine monster turned towards the reeling Pharaoh, causing Katsuya and Honda to plant themselves in front of her, while Anzu darted towards Amane, who had managed to seize control, hoping that it would stop the creature, only to find it did not.

“Tell it you’re okay. It’s protecting you.” Anzu took a chance on her hunch and pushed Amane in front of Diabound, causing the monster to pull up and stare at her.

“Diabound, it’s okay.” Amane’s voice shook as she raised a trembling hand and put it on the arm of the humanoid part of the creature. “I’m not hurt. You can leave now.”

“Are you sure?” Her eyes widened at the deep voice that emanated from the human head, then she nodded.

“I promise, Diabound. I’m not at risk here. You can go.” She spoke softly and calmly, trying not to show how frightened she was.

The naga-like creature considered her for a moment longer, then nodded and bowed before vanishing.

“The hell was that?” Katsuya hissed out.

“Diabound. Sis… Voice’s Ka beast.” Amane gulped, able to sense that she would not be able to keep her dark side out of control of the body for much longer. “I need to go. I’ll speak with Voice and try to calm her.”

With that Amane fled before her darker half could emerge and keep damaging the place.

Sugoroku rushed over to Yugi, who had taken control of the body and was slowly, shakily pushing herself upright. “Yugi! Are you okay?”

“I… I’ll be fine.” Her voice shook as badly as Amane’s had as she took in the sight of the destruction Diabound had caused. “I’ll help clean up.”

“You sure you’re up to it?” Anzu pressed, worried for her as the Queen of Games took Katsuya’s hand and got to her feet.

The nod she gave the others was a lie. She felt stretched and shaky, like she had spread herself too thin, which matched up to how she had felt after she had summoned Kuriboh without having enough energy behind it. Plus the world was rather blurry, and her head felt like it was going to explode, probably because of how much the recoil from the destruction of the Dark Magician had hurt.

She managed to push through it, though, glad that the healing spell Amane had given them had contained that extra boost as she helped right the living room as best they could.

Between the five of them with the mental support of her darker half, who felt as shaken up by Mahad’s revelations as she was, it did not take too long. Once the living room was as fixed as it was going to get, Jii-san sent Anzu and Honda home and ordered Yugi to go to bed. She did not fight him on it, stumbling up to her bedroom and not even managing to get changed before she passed out on her bed.

Meisa slipped into control and slowly changed into their night clothes, everything that had been said rushing through her mind as she tried to ignore the ache that still ran through her from the Dark Magician’s destruction.

Someone had tried to assassinate her and frame Bakura, then palace guards had attacked Bakura against Mahad’s orders…

That was what had started the downfall of Egypt and the mess they were in in the modern day.

Who had hired the assassins? Had the guards been acting on their own or had someone ordered them to take any chance they could get to kill the thief?

She wanted to know, but she could not. There were no other sources of information. Not without getting in contact with her uncle again, and to do that they would have to talk with Crawford, who had not been seen since Duelist Kingdom.

She felt her twin’s mind start to stir, disturbed from her exhausted slumber, and took a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself, not wanting to wake her light. As she turned to slip back into bed, her gaze fell upon a small, wrapped package on their desk. 

Confused since she had thought her friends had already given all their gifts, she stalked across the room and picked up the wrapped package. Relieved when there were no Shadows coming off of it, she checked the card attached and was surprised to find it came from the Kaibas. Half expecting it to explode or something, she hesitated for a moment, wondering if she should wake her twin, before deciding to let her sleep and unwrapping the gift.

Inside was a gold broach, a little bigger than she would normally wear, in the shape of a turtle made with clear and purple gems. When she flipped it over, she could see that it had a secure catch and a button that made the magenta eyes light up with a gentle glow for a few seconds.

It was cute. Not something they would normally wear, but she could see Imoto getting attached to it, since the Kame Game Shop’s logo was a turtle. She suspected it was a gift from Mokuba rather than his brother, though. She attached it to the strap of their new satchel, planning to show it to Imoto in the morning, and went to bed, allowing the body to get the sleep it so desired.

Halfway across the city, on a private, heavily protected computer screen in a certain tower, a small dot appeared on a map the moment Meisa pushed the button on the back of the turtle. 

A dot labelled Mutou Yugi.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here you go guys. Mahad's side of the story has now been told.
> 
> And it is not what Ba-Khu-Ra wanted to hear...
> 
> There is actually a comic coming of the flashback, but the artist needs a little more time to work on it. There's sketches from it on the Ennead tumblr as of this update though :)


	4. Taking Care of Buisness

Wednesday came and went, with Thursday following closely behind, but clarity on the whole situation was no closer than it had been when they had passed out in bed.

As Yugi and Katsuya made their way to the room where the Domino Senshi, Domino High’s Duelling Club, were to gather, neither of the Mutou twins could help but feel there was a missing piece to the puzzle of what had caused the men to attack. Not that they could ask. They had re-summoned Mahad last night, but his only suggestion was to say that perhaps they felt some loyalty to Akhenaden and had wanted revenge for his downfall.

That did not entirely ring true. Spontaneous revenge was one thing, but Bakura had been injured so quickly and so badly that she had resorted to making a deal with a demon to survive. As such it was doubtful that it had been a spur of the moment attack. Despite Mahad’s assumption, Yugi and Meisa were certain it had been a premeditated assault.

They wanted to ask Ba-Khu-Ra about the contract she had made and find out if there was a loophole they could use to free their betrayed friend. However, Amane had pointedly asked them to not poke her other self until she was certain the Thief Queen was calm enough to speak with them without lashing out. She could not promise that Diabound, or worse Zorc, would not make an appearance otherwise, and they might not get so lucky a second time.

It did not help that Namu was proving to need more training in the store than had been anticipated. Since Jii-san did not have time to work with the new hire, that meant Yugi had to do it, taking away from her time with her friends. Including Amane. Not that Yugi was entirely sure he was as incompetent as he seemed. Not when he seemed to be able to assist Jii-san relatively fine when she was elsewhere.

The door was open as they approached, reminding Yugi that she owed Eiko a favour. The Club Secretary had been keeping the club running while she had been in hospital. Eiko had even picked up the club room keys from the game shop, where Anzu had left them, so they could keep using their assigned room.

The Queen of Games was a little nervous as she hesitated outside the door. Her fingers brushed over the edges of the Millennium Puzzle, helping her ground herself. The Domino Senshi had been lovely about the fact she had been unable to attend for a few weeks. The bouquet of white anemones, white tsubaki, sakura and suisen that the club had sent had been beautiful. She just hoped they did not mind that she was running a little late.

A hand on her shoulder made her jump slightly, and she glanced up at Katsuya. The small, reassuring smile he was giving her helped her take a deep breath before slipping through the open door. Most of the club members were already there, and several faces lit up when she walked in.

“Mutou-kun!” One of the male Kobayashi triplets, Koichi if she was remembering correctly, grinned brightly and called over, “Glad you’re feeling better.”

“Me too. It’s good to be back.” With the Puzzle completed and hanging around her neck once more, she could sense magic flowing again, and as she looked around the room, she was surprised to feel small amounts of Shadows clinging to several of the Domino Senshi.

 _‘Anesan, make a note of who the Shadows are interested in, please? Barring myself and Katsuya?’_ she asked the Pharaoh as she moved out of the doorway and towards the Club Secretary, allowing the last of the club members entrance to the room.

Daisuki Eiko, a younger student with green eyes and long black hair who, if Yugi was remembering the portfolio correctly, was an Insect Duelist, grinned at her as she approached. “Hey, you heard about the change of rules for the School Duel League?”

“They’re using the Expert system.” Yugi nodded, having been caught by Yamada-Sensei this morning with the new rule sheet. “I’ve never used them before, so we’ll be learning together.”

“They don’t look too hard. We just need to remember the tribute rules.” Eiko grimaced momentarily before pausing and pulling something out of her pocket. “I hope you don’t mind, but I had a copy made.”

“Why would I mind?” the Puzzle Bearer asked as she took the set of club room keys from Eiko, holding them up so she could admire the Dark Magician keyring made of purple resin that now hung from them. “Umm… do you want this back?”

“I needed a way to tell the sets apart,” Eiko admitted, looking a little worried. “I thought you might like it.”

“It’s really cute,” Yugi reassured her, putting the keys in her jacket pocket, smiling brightly. “Thank you.”

That made the younger student relax a little as Yugi turned to the rest of the Domino Senshi. She was about to start going over the new rules when a quiet cough in the doorway made her turn to look.

Anzu was stood there, looking torn between nervousness and excitement as she asked, “Can me and a friend come in?”

“Sure.” The Puzzle Bearer nodded, confused since Anzu was not normally interested in Duel Monsters for more than friendly matches. Then her eyes widened as the dancer was followed into the room by a certain young woman with blonde hair and eyes the same purple as Yugi’s own.

“Mai!” The volume increase in Yugi’s voice as she bounced across the room, delighted that her friend had arrived, caught the attention of the other Senshi, whose various reactions the Queen of Games completely missed. “Hi! It’s good to see you.”

“Hi, Yugi.” Mai smiled back. “Anzu called me to let me know you’d been in hospital, so I thought I’d drop by, but you were out before I got into town. I’m glad to see you’re okay.”

Anzu moved to sit next to Jonouchi as Yugi shrugged off just how injured she had really been, and pulled out the deck she had been working on for the last couple of days. Katsuya leaned closer, his voice low as he murmured, “You call Mai in?”

“She gave me and Yugi her number and said to let her know if anything important came up, so I gave her a ring,” the dancer whispered back. “You complaining?”

“No, just curious.” He could see how happy Mai showing up had made Yugi, plus the Senshi were staring, eyes wide, at having a professional Duelist here that was not one of their classmates. 

That and he certainly was not above appreciating the view of his best friend, bright and happy with one of the cutest smiles on her face he had ever seen, next to a gorgeous blonde with a kickass personality and who could kick his butt if he irritated her. “I’m just surprised to see you here. You stopped playing Duel Monsters with Yuge and I the sixth time I kicked your butt, claiming it wasn’t fun anymore.”

“I…” Anzu hesitated as Yugi introduced her friend to the Dueling club. Anzu was too proud to admit the real reason that she had rung the Harpie Duelist, which was not as altruistic as she was making out, but she needed something to tell him. “Mai’s been staying at my house since she got in, so I’ve been trying to duel against her in the evenings. I’ve learned a lot.”

The fact that they had been working together meant that they were ahead of the group when Yugi started working with the club on the new Expert Rules. Not that they were all that complicated. The major change to the game was the introduction of ‘Tribute’ Summoning. In order to summon a monster higher than level four, you now needed to tribute lower level monsters to pay for them.

With the new rules in place, if Yugi wanted to summon a level five or six monster, like her Summoned Skull, she would need to tribute one monster, while her level seven Dark Magician would require two tributes, unless a card specifically stated otherwise, like, for example, Double Coston, which counted for two tributes for DARK attribute monsters, or Kaiser Seahorse, who did the same but for LIGHT creatures.

The problem she could see, however, was that with the School Duel League adapting to the new ‘Expert’ system, a few of the Domino Senshi would require complete revamps to their decks if they wanted to compete.

She was grateful to Mai and Anzu for the help as she worked through the decks with those she could and promised that for the next meeting she would be bringing her box of spares and possibly, if she could convince her Ojiisan, some of the new boosters which contained monsters who were suited for the new expert rules. In the meantime her twin sister took spirit form and circled the room, picking out who in the room the Shadows were interested in.

 _‘If you’re still interested, Mai and all the Kobayashis are Shadow-touched,’_ Meisa informed her twin as she passed the identical boys, Koichi and Koji, who had short, messy black hair and brown eyes, and their sister, Maru, whose brown eyes matched her brothers, while her long brown hair did not, noting that despite the darkness clinging to them none of the triplets could see her.

Yugi glanced at the Harpie Duelist, who was working with Eiko and Maru, surprised that they had not sensed that sooner, then paused to try and remember what decks the triplets played and came up with Pyro, Vampires, and Wights, but not which triplet played which monster type.

 _‘This guy as well.’_ Yugi glanced up at Meisa’s call to check who she was talking about.

 _‘Kon Orochi,’_ Yugi filled her in, remembering the blue-eyed, older student as the Serpent Duelist who had been worried that they would be made to wear leotards after the name ‘Senshi’ had been chosen. She could not help but be amused that he had done his roots since she had last seen him, ensuring that his hair looked blonde all the way through. _‘Anyone else?’_

There was a pause as the Spirit of the Puzzle continued around the room, trying to get a feel for the Duelists her twin was teaching, only to pause by a younger student with dark green hair and green eyes, who was working through his Dinosaur deck alongside a blue haired Duelist who ran an interesting mix of dragons. _‘These two as well.’_

 _‘Teramoto Tetsuo and Nishihara Haru.’_ The lighter half of their shared soul shared, unable to help but wonder what it was about Duelists that made the Shadows interested in them.

Before she could even think of what questions to ask to find out, the bell went, giving them the heads up that their extra hour in school was over. She quickly scribbled down the names, wanting to cross-reference them against the portfolio she had been given when Eiko had approached her about running the club to see if there were any similarities in their records that would explain it, and helped pack up. As the last out she locked the door behind her and smiled slightly as she saw that someone had drawn a proper sign to go in the window. It had a Dark Magician drawn at one end and a Blue-Eyes White Dragon drawn at the other.

“Teramoto drew it,” Katsuya said, having seen her notice it, as he, Mai, Anzu, and Yugi headed for the shoe lockers.

Yugi paused for a moment before nodding, glad that Katsuya had continued to come to the duelling club while she had been absent so he could fill her in on such things. She bit her lower lip for a moment before looking at the others.

“Some of the Senshi are Shadow-touched, so it’s not just people touched by the Millennium Items who can access the Shadows,” she informed the group as a whole, remembering her promise to tell Mai if normal Duelists could learn to use Shadows back when she had explained herself to the Harpie Duelist on Duelist Kingdom. “You too, Mai.”

“What does that mean?” Mai frowned at her. 

Katsuya though looked thoughtful. “That explains why I’ve been a little on edge around them. Any idea why?”

“It means you’ve got limited access to Shadow magic, Mai. As for why, I’m not sure, Katsuya.” Yugi shrugged, pursing her lips. “I know you, Anzu, and Honda have been picking up Shadow magic because you’ve been touched by it so many times, but you were the most sensitive of the three of you until Anzu had her soul ripped out and you’d only participated in one extra Shadow Game, and none of the Senshi or Mai have ever been in a Shadow Game, so there’s got to be another factor.” 

“If Bakura was talking to us, we could ask her.” Katsuya huffed.

“I know, but…” Yugi’s shoulders sank as she remembered just how furious and upset the Thief Queen had looked just before Diabound had arrived. “I don’t think she’s okay right now.”

The former gang member grimaced slightly. Even if the Thief Queen had been forced into making the deal with the demon in order to survive, she was still their enemy, and her long term plan was to take all the Millennium Items for herself and see Yugi dead. If they let themselves get too sympathetic to her, they would forget that fact and their defences would be down when she did turn on them.

“I know, but she’s the only one we can ask.” He huffed, shifting his backpack on his shoulders. “Meisa doesn’t remember anything, and I wouldn’t trust a word that came out of Shadi’s or Crawford’s mouths. We don’t have many other options.”

Yugi grimaced but did not say a word, having sensed the flinch that her darker self had given when Katsuya had brought up her lost memories. The loss was a sore subject for the Pharaoh, who had surrendered her memories and her name in order to seal away the demon that Bakura had merged her soul with, and they were still trying to work out a way of getting them back without unlocking that spell.

Jonouchi was not wrong, and that was the problem. There was no one they could trust to give them the truth, except perhaps Mahad, and summoning him regularly with magic was not really an option because it took so much energy. With more time and practise, she was sure it would be an easier task, but right now she did not have the energy to summon him every time she had a question about Egypt or Shadow magic. She and Anesan were compiling a list of questions for the next time they thought they were up to summoning him, but they needed someone living who they could trust to teach them more and help them understand.

Right now the only one available was Ba-Khu-Ra, and Yugi was loath to risk antagonizing her when everything the Thief Queen had thought she knew about the situation had been turned on its head. If she even believed it when she calmed down.

Jou hesitated, then let out a sigh. “Speaking of Shadow-touched Duelists, there’s something I haven’t told you about the fire, but it might need to be discussed somewhere a little more private.”

Mai paused, a slight frown on her face. “So you just want me to leave?”

“No. No.” Yugi shook her head rapidly, able to sense her twin’s curiosity about what Katsuya looked so nervous about. “You proved you can be trusted on Duelist Kingdom, and since you have Shadows, you might as well learn about them, plus you’re our friend. I was going to invite you back to the shop.”

The Harpie Duelist looked appeased by that, and they eagerly rushed back to the shop. 

The shop was heaving as they arrived home, and both Yugi and Katsuya dropped their bags and darted to help clear the customer load, alongside Jii-san and Namu. Anzu would have taken Mai down the road to a nearby cafe to wait so they were not in the way, but the Harpie Duelist surprised them all by nodding to Sugoroku and jumping in to help, which meant the dancer did too. It took a while, but by the time the store was due to close, they had managed to get the customer numbers down to a more reasonable level.

As Namu swept the floor at the end of his shift and Katsuya locked the door, preventing any more customers from entering, Jii-san finally got a chance to turn to Yugi. “You had a package arrive this afternoon.”

“From who?” Yugi wished she had not asked as her grandfather fished out a large, heavy-looking package from behind the counter and she spotted the Industrial Illusions emblem on the packaging.

“Oh, hell, no.” Kastusya swore the moment he looked at it, noting the way Yugi leant on the nearest counter, trembling. “Toss it out.”

Mai, who was easily able to remember what she had been told about the events leading into Duelist Kingdom, grimaced, while Anzu put her hand on Yugi’s shoulder, trying to offer support.

“Industrial Illusions phoned just after the store opened this morning.” The elderly gamer’s grimace told the teens that he agreed with their assessment, while Namu looked on, confused. “Crawford requested a video conference with Yugi. When I explained that the only computer in the house isn’t webcam compatible, I was told that something would be arriving to fix that, and then this showed up with a runner.”

Yugi’s chest felt tight, her stomach roiled, and her body trembled as she beheld the package. The last large package that had arrived from Industrial Illusions had been the one containing the video tape that had allowed Crawford to steal her grandfather’s soul. While she wanted to hope that Crawford would know better than to try it again, she could not help but be anxious.

 _‘Easy, Futago no Imoto.’_ The Pharaoh’s calming presence and soothing words gave her something to lean on as she tried to pull herself together. _‘I don’t sense Shadows from the package this time.’_

 _‘You could sense it last time?!’_ Yugi squeaked across the soul bond, wondering why the heck the Spirit of the Puzzle had not said anything before now.

 _‘I wasn’t sure. I hadn’t had much experience outside of Bakura’s mischief, and she was hanging around. I thought it was coming from her. I’m sorry.’_ The apology made the lighter half of their soul internally wince.

 _‘It’s-It’s okay. You couldn’t have known,’_ the Queen of Games replied as she stepped forward and took hold of the surprisingly heavy and rather large parcel.

“Stay downstairs until I’ve opened it?” she asked her friends and family, looking between them all. 

“Yeah, sure.” Anzu nodded, looking at Mai. “You wanted to go through the single cards with me to see if we could find those cards you wanted for my deck anyway.”

“Which cards?” Thankful to Anzu for the distraction, which caught her grandfather and Katsuya in its web, Yugi headed upstairs, with the door shutting behind her serving to cut off Namu’s question about her wellbeing.

 _‘If it is a Shadow Game, I won’t be a fool this time,’_ Meisa promised her twin as they retreated with the packet to their bedroom, not wanting to run the risk of anyone coming up behind them and getting caught in the trap.

 _‘I know you won’t.’_ Yugi did too. Meisa had learned her lesson about not allowing pride to control her actions. It had nearly cost Yugi her life and both Anzu and Jii-san their souls, but at least the Pharaoh had learned it, and that was all that mattered. _‘I trust you.’_

Shutting the bedroom door behind them, she put the package on the bed and sat next to it, wondering what the heck she had been sent this time. Opening it revealed a boxed laptop with a letter sat on top. She set the letter aside and went to open the laptop box, only to find that it was unsealed and inside were a webcam and an ethernet cable to connect the device to the internet.

She opened the laptop and found the power button, turning it on, before opening the letter.

“To Mutou Yugi,” Yugi read to her other self, who had taken spirit form to examine the portable computer. “You are expected to attend a video conference between myself, Tenma Gekko, and yourself at 3pm on Saturday afternoon regarding your title contract and the events of Duelist Kingdom.”

 _‘At least they’re giving us warning?’_ the Pharaoh offered as she turned to look at her light.

“This laptop is for your use only,” Yugi continued reading, “snd is to be primarily used for work related to your title as ‘Queen of Games’, including but not limited to meetings, e-mails, and reports regarding events that you have been sent to. You may also use this laptop for personal business within reason and restricted to your duelling career and schooling. It is advised that you get used to the system before the meeting on Saturday.”

Yugi grimaced, deciding she needed to double check her copy of the Queen of Games title contract before the meeting so she knew what they meant by ‘events you have been sent to’.

“You know,” she huffed at her darker half, tension leaking out of her as it appeared that Industrial Illusions really did just want to talk to her regarding the title, “I’m both impressed that they want to speak with me enough to send a laptop and insulted that they didn’t speak to me face to face.”

 _‘Well I suppose that with Crawford being American, he can’t come to Japan every time he wants to deal with us,’_ the Spirit of the Puzzle offered.

“See, I would agree with that, but this is signed by a ‘Tenma Yakko, Head of Industrial Illusions Japan.’ Not Crawford. Who even is Tenma?” she complained. She paused when she saw the computer had booted up. “Right, I’ll let the others know it’s safe, and then we’ll see what they’ve installed on here.”

The spirit just shrugged, rather out of her depth when it came to technology and unable to interact with it without being in control of her twin’s body.

Yugi picked up the laptop, brought it down to the living room, where the internet router was, and plugged the device in using the provided cable before darting downstairs to give the others the heads up. Namu had gone home in the time that it had taken her to open up the laptop, allowing them to speak freely.

“So is it cursed?” Katsuya asked as Yugi poked her head around the door.

“No, not cursed, at least not yet. I have a meeting on Saturday, though, after Duel Club thankfully.” The Magician Duelist sighed.

“They wanted to talk to you earlier, but I informed them that you had school responsibilities to attend to.” Doctor Mutou’s words earned him a hug from his granddaughter.

As Yugi pulled away she got a sheepish look. “Speaking of the Domino Senshi, is there any chance I can get a box of the Renouncement booster packs for Saturday?”

“Those are brand new boosters.” Jii-san grimaced. “I don’t know if I can let you have a whole box. It’ll depend on how well they sell. I can probably do two packs each. That would be twenty four, right?”

“That’s more than enough, thank you.” The girl grinned, bouncing slightly in her pleasure at having been given permission to give her club members some of the new boosters. “Oh, and can I access the safe? I need to double check my title contract.”

“I’m just taking the cash drawer up now.” The elderly man nodded. “If you would like to follow me?”

She did, still glad that she had talked Jii-san into supporting the club as she headed up the stairs, noting on her way past that the laptop had fully finished booting up while she had been downstairs. She grabbed her copy of the title contract out of the safe and darted out of the way, not wanting to be a bother.

Scanning it quickly revealed the lines ‘The Title Recipient will be expected to attend at least one event per quarter as determined by Industrial Illusions for marketing and publicity purposes. Failure to attend these events without notice or good reason as accepted by the Head of Industrial Illusions San Francisco could result in removal of the title from the recipient.’

 _‘We should have gone over the contract when we got back from Duelist Kingdom,’_ the Spirit of the Puzzle grouched as Yugi flopped into the sofa and picked up the laptop, noting that it already had Microsoft Word installed, along with a program called I2-Eye, which she recognised as a chat program.

Poking around in it revealed that her ‘contacts list’ included a bunch of names of people she had never met, including two Tenmas, one initialled Y, the other G, a ‘Dupre S’ and a ‘Merced R’. Alongside them was a ‘Crawford P’ that she almost blocked automatically on instinct, a ‘Kaiba S’ and a ‘Kaiba M’. It was almost a relief to see the Kaibas were also on this system, as it meant that if this whole thing was a trap, at least she had easy access to the two brothers to warn them.

Each name had a small coloured circle next to it, and hovering her mouse over them revealed that Tenma Y was the Head of Industrial Illusions Japan and was ‘busy’, while Tenma G ruled over the American branch, which was the HQ of the whole company, and was offline. Working out easily that meant green had to mean online, that meant that Dupre and Merced were both online and were the heads of the Russian and European branches respectively. She fired off a quick message to Tenma Y, thanking him for the laptop and confirming her attendance at the Saturday meeting, before messaging Mokuba, who was offline, saying hi, before she shut the laptop down to help make dinner.

Food was important now after all, and if they were going to wait till Saturday to hex her, she was going to get a couple of good meals in first.

Once the food was cooked and devoured, Anzu spread out her new cards, looking through them carefully alongside Mai, as Yugi turned to Katsuya,.“So, what haven’t you told me?”

“You know how Honda and I went back in for the Otogis?” the Luck Duelist asked, getting to his feet so he could pace out his concern and nervousness.

“Which was really brave of you both.” The Magician Duelist nodded, well aware that Otogi was disliked by everyone after what he had pulled, and proud of her friends for wanting to help the pair who had caused so much trouble.

“Here’s the thing…” Jou took a deep breath. “Honda and Otogi Ryuji got out safe, but the entrance collapsed and trapped me inside.”

Yugi paled, Anzu’s head shot up, and Mai’s eyes narrowed. “But you got out.”

“Yeah, but only because I somehow summoned my Red-Eyes Black Dragon.” He slipped his deck out of his pocket and drew the top card, a small smile gracing his features when it was the dragon in question. “Like, actually summoned him.”

“Like Yugi summoned Kuriboh?” Mai questioned, suddenly more interested and wondering if she could do the same for her Harpies. 

“Yeah.” He nodded, tilting his head as he realized he could sense fire and darkness from the card. He paused and held the card up. “Red-Eyes, I summon you.”

There was a moment when the world darkened, and for a second there was a black outline, then Katsuya wavered and nearly fell. Yugi darted forward and Mai shot to her feet, both of them giving him support until he was in a chair.

“That nearly worked,” Anzu said, having been able to feel the Shadows building up as the monster tried to respond to his Duelist’s summons.

“I swear I managed it in the fire,” Jou promised, taking a sip from the glass of water that Sugoroku got him. 

“You probably did.” Meisa took over so she could explain what she knew. “Shadow magic is tied to the soul and emotions. The stronger your emotions, the stronger the magic you have access to.”

“That makes sense.” Mai nodded, thinking hard. “Can anyone do that?” 

“I think you need training or exposure to the Shadows.” Meisa frowned, trying to remember everything she had heard about the magic. “Bakura was able to summon her Diabound before she got her item, but Mahad said she had been training with us before then.”

“Can you ask the Dark Magician?” Jou questioned. “He might know how Mai and I can start learning.”

Mai glanced at him, surprised to be included as Meisa reached for her deck. Sugoroku shot across the room and grabbed his granddaughter’s hand, shaking his head. “Not now.”

“Jii-san?” She blinked at him, shocked by the interference. 

“You might have a Shadow Game on Saturday. You’re not to use any excess energy before then,” their grandfather forbade them. “We can wait for answers, can’t we?”

At the sharp look he shot around the room, Anzu and Katsuya nodded. Mai just shrugged and took a seat by the dancer. “Fine. I’m going to be around for a while anyway. I’ll wait till it’s safe.”

“Sorry.” Yugi took over and slumped down on Anzu’s other side so she could see what she and Mai were up to. 

“Not your fault.” The Harpie duelist huffed. “Just don’t get suckered again.”

“I don’t plan to.”

* * *

Yugi was ecstatic as she closed up the club room on Saturday afternoon, beyond pleased at how well the booster packs had gone down. Everyone had gotten something useful and the Double Coston that now resided in her deck was going to be massively useful the next time Kaiba challenged her to a duel.

And it was only a matter of time before he did.

Trying not to get frustrated when the buses were running a little late, she parted ways with Katsuya at the corner before the shop so he could go on to his other job, and hurried through the busy Saturday shopping crowds. She swept past Jii-san and Namu, not stopping to do more than assist a customer or two, before she headed upstairs and set up the laptop, webcam and all, ready for the meeting.

She had just enough time to change out of her uniform and into a blouse and trousers and grab herself a drink before her new computer made the most obnoxious ringing noise she had heard in her entire life. Guessing that green equalled answer, just like on a mobile phone, she clicked the green button and two faces appeared on her screen, identical in physiology, but very different in expression.

She sat back so they could see her properly and smiled at them both. “Tenma-sans. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

She was not being entirely honest with them, but she was just kind of glad that the CEO of Industrial Illusions was staying out of the call.

“Miss Mutou.” The soft eyed, pleasant-looking Tenma G, whose video revealed the San Francisco skyline in the background, half-bowed to her. “Thank you for being here promptly.”

“No problem. You wanted to speak to me regarding an event?” she asked as her twin emerged from the Puzzle as a ghost to sit on the arm of the sofa next to her. “I’m only going to be able to attend ones that don’t mess with my education, I hope you understand.”

“The event we want you to attend is during the half-term holiday,” the sharp-eyed, irritable looking, Tenma Y, who had the Tokyo skyline in the background, informed her, “We will be paying for your hotel, food, and travel, and you may bring one extra with you at no added cost.”

“That’s generous.” The Queen of Games tried to hide her wariness, wondering if the event was some kind of revenge for what had happened at Duelist Kingdom. “What do you expect me to do while I’m there?”

“As the winner of Duelist Kingdom, you were crowned Queen of Games, and by beating Kaiba in an official match, you grabbed the World Champion title. Many of the Duelling magazines are interested in getting photos and interviewing you,” the sharper-looking of the two Tenmas explained. “We want you to attend a press event, run by Industrial Illusions and Kaiba Corp, to provide that in a manner that does not involve them harassing you at your home.”

That was surprisingly polite of the two Tenmas, and Yugi found herself pleased that they had thought of it, even if she was not sure she was going to be the best public speaker. Crowds for her normally equaled bullies and pain, not questions and photos. It was going to take some adaptation.

“Plus Kaiba Corp is announcing the release date for their Duel Disk and would like you to duel against a Duelist of their choosing in order to show off the improvements to the technology,” the softer added.

“I wouldn’t mind doing that.” Yugi grinned, looking forward to a challenging match. “Do you know who against?”

“Kaiba himself,” the sharper Tenma bit out, “of course.”

Of course, indeed. In hindsight it had been a stupid question.

“There is something else, Miss Mutou.” The softer Tenma caught her attention again. “We are offering compensation to Duelists who were attending our father’s tournament as a way of apologizing for the lack of accommodation and food stalls. Our father was not well before the event and was not entirely within his right mind.”

“Every Duelist who attended will be receiving a check worth the equivalent of a thousand American dollars,” Tenma Y informed her, expression unhappy, suggesting he was displeased with what was being offered. “As one of those who suffered the most under Father’s temporary insanity, we are offering you a slightly bigger compensation than most.”

Yugi paused, biting her lower lip as she grasped that there was a good chance these two knew more about the magical events than she had realized. “Oh?”

“In exchange for not telling anyone what happened on Duelist Kingdom regarding the more…” He hesitated.

“Unusual events?” Yugi offered nervously.

“That works.” The American Tenma nodded. “The more unusual events on Duelist Kingdom are something we would like to keep secret, so in exchange for signing a non-disclosure agreement to not tell anyone about the magical events on Duelist Kingdom, other than those who already know about them, we are willing to put you on a sponsorship contract. While you’re still dueling professionally we would pay for your education, as well as travel and accommodation, with a small stipend for food thrown in.”

Yugi stared at the screen for a moment, unsure she was hearing what she thought she was hearing. Then Meisa nudged her gently.

 _‘Imoto? Might I take over?’_ The Pharaoh barely had to ask before they swapped places.

The Spirit of the Puzzle frowned slightly as she asked, “What’s the catch? If you know about Duelist Kingdom’s magical events, you know that your father was not the only one on the island who had additional abilities. Why offer me the sponsorship?”

The Tenma that resided in Japan smirked, but the one who lived in America sighed. “Quite frankly, Miss Mutou, we would rather work with you than against you. We could, if we wanted to, use the camera footage from the boat to prove that you used some sort of magic to take Insector Haga out of the competition before it even began; however, we are aware of the sway you have over upcoming female Duelists, and we would rather work with you to help shape your reputation than have you turn them away from the game of Duel Monsters because you were unwilling to work with us.”

“What about Kujaku Mai? Or Wong Vivian?” Meisa pressed, confused as to how she had influence when the others had been duelling long before she had, and not looking forward to discussing this with Mai.

“While Wong is a model and actress, she’s not a suitable role model for a good chunk of girls because of her reputation for attaching herself to anyone with influence. I believe her current target is Kaiba.” Tenma Y huffed. “And Kujaku…”

“Yakko.” Tenma G cut his twin brother off sharply before he could be rude about Mai, well aware another girl could take offense on her behalf. “Many mothers don’t like Mai as a role model because of her attitude towards others. The new American Champion is a girl too, but Rebecca Hopkins is only twelve years old and does not have the influence and attitude required to be a good role model.”

“It’s hard for Duelists who want to be taken seriously when the American Champion still carries her teddy bear,” Yakko huffed out. “Plus she is prone to a temper tantrum when things don’t go her way.”

“So you want to have some sway over me, so you can ensure that women aren’t turned away from the game.” Meisa understood where this was going.

There was a pause as both Tenmas processed what she had just said, then Yakko snorted, amusement clear, “She’s smarter than you gave her credit for, Gekko.”

Gekko just scowled, his gaze turned to where Yakko was probably visible on his screen.

“Can you blame us?” the Tenma in charge of the Japanese branch continued. “I’m sure you don’t want to lose the chance to see more women in the game.”

“What do you expect of me?” the Pharaoh asked, pursing her lips.

“Quite frankly, Miss Mutou, this press event will be your first public outing as the Queen of Games. This will be your first chance to present yourself to the world and the Duelists in it, properly.” Gekko spoke carefully, “We want to assist you in making it a good impression and allow you to become a role model that female Duelists can aspire to, especially the younger ones.”

“And the sponsorship?” Meisa pushed, wanting to know what they expected of her and her twin in exchange.

“It’s a bribe mostly, though it’s also a guarantee of protection for both sides.” Yakko shrugged, “You don’t tell anyone about Father’s actions towards yourself and the Kaibas, protecting our company, and we provide for your future and we don’t let the footage of you using magic leak.”

“We’ll give you time to think about it,” Gekko offered. “If you’re agreeable, we’ll have you sign the non-disclosure agreement and the sponsorship contracts at the pre-event meeting.”

“And what’s the dress code for the publicity event? If I’m willing to attend?” The Pharaoh internally grimaced. She and her twin had a lot to talk about.

“You’re coming out as the Queen of Games,” Yakko pointed out. “This is your chance to make your first impression and show that you are worthy of that title. I would suggest that you think about that carefully and dress to impress.”

The Spirit of the Puzzle felt her twin mentally wince as she realized that she probably did not have anything suitable in her wardrobe, and a shopping trip with Anzu would be a necessity, “How soon will you need my answer?”

“If you don’t attend the publicity event, you’ll be in default of your title contract,” Tenma Yakko reminded her with a slight sneer, “but we can wait a couple of days. We’ll send you an itinerary in the meantime so you can see what you’re getting into.”

“I’ll look it over and get back to you by tomorrow evening,” Meisa promised.

“Thank you, Miss Mutou.” Gekko smiled at her, relief clear as his brother dropped out of the call, possibly to send them the information. “I apologize for coming on strong, but Industrial Illusions isn’t just our father’s legacy, it has been part of our lives since we were adopted by our father. We’re rather protective of it.”

“I understand.” She did too. She knew just how protective her family was of the shop, and she herself was unwilling to see it fail, even though she had only been free for around a year. “I just hope we can work well in the future.”

“I hope so too. Have a good evening, Mutou-san.”

Gekko nodded was just reaching to end the call when Yugi took over and asked, “How is your Otosan?”

He paused, surprised she would ask after everything they had discovered after Kaiba’s snipe about the tournament.

“Father is getting better,” he admitted with a rueful smile. “His Millennium Eye was taken from him at the end of Duelist Kingdom, and he has been recovering slowly. I will tell him you asked after him. I have a question, though.”

“What’s that?” Yugi tilted her head, mostly glad that their father was recovering from having his item snatched, but partly relieved to have the confirmation that Crawford could not come after her with magic again, as well as partly frustrated because this meant she could no longer get information from Akhenaden.

“Do you know who attacked our father?” Gekko’s voice was sharper now than it had been so far, and he sounded much more like this twin as he stared at her.

“I don’t have confirmation, no,” Yugi admitted cautiously, not wanting to point them in Ba-Khu-Ra’s direction even with her recent behavior. “There’s a few people who are hunting Millennium Item holders. It could have been any of them. Especially since I know a couple of them can move unseen. I didn’t see who did it, so I can’t be sure who it was.”

The Tenma living in America grimaced. “I was afraid of that. Thank you again, Miss Mutou.”

With that he ended the call.

Yugi groaned as she quickly replied to Mokuba’s ‘hello, how did you get access to I2-Eye?’ with a rundown of being given the laptop for calls to Industrial Illusions. Meisa, as concerned as she was, emerged from the Puzzle and started pacing.

“So… I guess we’re going?” Yugi asked her twin, who paused in her steps to look at her. “I mean, they kind of have us over a barrel.”

 _‘If it was just the title, I’d say sod it if you didn’t want to go, but they say they have footage of us casting magic, and I don’t want to risk your safety if it leaks.’_ Anesan grimaced, starting to pace again. _‘Sorry…’_

 _‘So we go and we sign the Non-Disclosure Agreement. This isn’t the end of the world. It means I could afford to go to University. That’s something we couldn’t do before,’_ Yugi offered, trying to cheer her twin sister up. _‘At least they’ve said we can take someone with us, so we won’t be going alone.’_

Meisa nodded with a sigh. Back-up would be good.

The laptop blipped, showing she had an e-mail, and she opened it to find that she would be expected to be in Tokyo on the Friday before Shizuka’s operation, with the event falling on the day it was due to take place. Since Shizuka’s hospital was in Tokyo, that meant if she could talk Jonouchi into going with her, he could see his sister the night before her eyes were fixed up and, with the timetable the way it was, he would be able to see her off to the operating room in the morning.

That alone was enough reason for Yugi to say yes, she would attend.

 _‘What about the sponsorship contract?’_ Meisa asked, sitting next to her.

 _‘We don’t really have a choice.’_ Yugi sighed, kind of wishing that she had I2-Eye on her phone as she asked Mokuba if they were really attending the publicity event in Tokyo and what they thought of the Tenmas. _‘We don’t want that footage out in the public eye.’_

 _‘I didn’t even think about there being footage.’_ Meisa huffed and leaned back a little too far into the sofa, partly sinking into it.

When Yugi thought about it, she was not entirely surprised there was film somewhere. With how many cameras there had been on the boat and all over Duelist Kingdom, it would have been impossible to avoid them all. Especially when some of the magic had been blatantly used around the Duel Boxes which had recorded the duels.

“Is the meeting over?” The appearance of their grandfather at the top of the stairs made the pair jump and turn to look at him. “Can I send Namu up for his break now?”

“Sorry, Jii-san.” Yugi winced. “Go ahead. Can I talk to you later, though?”

“You okay?” he asked, worried that Industrial Illusions had threatened her again.

“Eh? We still have our souls,” the Queen of Games offered with a shrug as her twin returned to the Puzzle.

Sugoroku was not entirely happy that that was an improvement on the last time Yugi had met with Industrial Illusions by video conference.

“We’ll discuss things later,” he agreed, “once Katsuya gets home. After all, he’s going to want to know if you need someone punched.”

“Oh, I plan on telling him. Look.” She showed him the itinerary and saw the old man’s face light up.

“He’ll be happy about this.” The old archaeologist grinned. “Are you sure you want to go, though?”

The laptop blipping as Mokuba replied to her question made her pause to check his answer before she said, “I can’t really say no, but I want to see if Katsuya wants to go with me before I reply. Besides, it looks like this is legit because the Kaibas are actually in on it.”

“We’ll work out a plan between us later.” Her grandfather nodded, not reminding her that there had been a time when the Kaibas had wanted her dead, despite their turn about since Duelist Kingdom. “In the meantime, come downstairs when you’re done and help out.”

“Will do, Jii-san,” she promised as she sent Mokuba her mobile phone number so they could continue the conversation away from the laptop and shut the device down. The shop needed her, after all, and that had to come first.

Passing Namu on the stairs on her way down, she felt her dark twin startle. _‘Imoto!’_

 _‘What?’_ Yugi paused and turned back to look at the teenage guy who was heading into the kitchen for his break.

 _‘Remember on Thursday? When you had me sensing Shadows from the Senshi?’_ the Pharaoh asked, sounding startled. _‘Namu has them too.’_

 _‘You’re sure?!’_ The Queen of Games blinked, shocked.

 _‘Dead certain… That wasn’t meant to be a pun.’_ The Spirit of the Puzzle groaned.

_‘Okay, now I really want to know what makes the Shadows cling to people. Can we summon Mahad now?’_

_‘I think we need to.’_

__

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I may have looked up Hanakotoba, Japanese flower language, when I was writing this chapter. The bouquet that the Domino Senshi gave Yugi has a meaning hidden within it. "Sincerely Waiting with Kind Respect" 
> 
> White Anemone = Sincere  
> White Tsubaki = Waiting  
> Sakura = Kind  
> Suisen = Respect
> 
> Yes, I am a huge nerd...


End file.
